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THE 



ELEMEITS OF PUICTUATION; 



»k Soto an % te of Capital f *ito. 



AN ABEIDGMENT 



"TREATISE ON ENGLISH PUNCTUATION. 



PREPARED FOR SCHOOLS. 



BY JOHN WILSON. 



BOSTON : 

CROSBY, NICHOLS, AND COMPANY 

CINCINNATI: 

GEORGE S. BLANCHARD. 

1856. 







Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

JOHN WILSON AND SON, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



BOSTON : 

PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, 

No. 22, School Street. 



PEEFACE. 



At the urgent request of teachers, the author has abridged 
his " Treatise on English Punctuation," and now presents it, 
in a condensed shape, with a view to its being generally 
adopted in common schools. He has omitted the Essay 
which forms the Introduction to that work, the list of Abbre- 
viations, the chapter on the Preparation of Copy and on 
Proof-reading, the Index, and almost all that relates pecu- 
liarly to authors and printers ; but has, he thinks, retained 
every thing essential to the knowledge of an art, which, 
though long neglected or imperfectly comprehended even by a 
majority of literary men, should be understood by all persons, 
whether they be readers or writers. 

By the advice of those whom he has been permitted to con- 
sult, and to whom he is indebted for various suggestions, the 
author has interspersed throughout the book a few hints to 
teachers ; and these he submits to them, in the hope that they 
will in most cases be found serviceable. But, having been 
placed by Providence in a sphere of labor different from the 
honorable and influential one of personally instructing youth, 



PREFACE. 






he would not prescribe any definite and unvarying mode of 
teaching the art which he has attempted to set forth : he has, 
therefore, composed the book according to a plan which will 
render it susceptible of being used, in a great measure, 
according to the taste and judgment of the teacher himself. 
The rules, the remarks, and the various kinds of exercises, 
he has so arranged as at once to meet the eye; and the 
instructor may, at discretion, require his pupil, either, as a 
first course, to take up only the rules with their explanations, 
and the exercises on the rules ; or to go regularly through 
the book, and acquire thorough information on one branch 
before proceeding to another. 

22, School Street, Boston, 
August, 1856. 




ra 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. I. — NATURE AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 

Page. 

The Uses of Punctuation 1 

Grammatical Requisites, and Definitions of the Terms used .... 2 



CHAP. II. — THE GRAMMATICAL POINTS. 

Introductory Observations 8 

SECT. I. — THE COMMA. 

Remarks on the Use of the Comma * 9 

Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, connected by the Conjunctions 

and, or, nor 10 

Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, not connected by a Conjunction 13 

Series of Words of the Same Part of Speech 16 

Words or Phrases in Apposition 19 

Words or Phrases in Contrast 22 

The Subject and the Predicate 25 

Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses 29 

Intermediate Phrases and Clauses 34 

Vocative Words, Phrases, and Clauses 37 

Adjectival, Participial, and Absolute Phrases 38 

Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases 40 

Phrases at the End of Sentences or Clauses 44 

Inverted or Transposed Expressions 47 

One Clause depending on Another 51 

Correlative Words, Phrases, and Clauses 54 

Phrases and Clauses in the same Construction 57 

Clauses having a Verb understood 61 

Clauses consisting of Short Quotations or Remarks 64 

Numeral Figures and Words 67 



« 



Vi CONTENTS. 

SECT. H. — THE SEMICOLON. 

Page. 

A Sentence consisting of Two Conjoined Clauses 68 

Expressions divided into Simpler Parts 71 

A Series of Expressions having a Common Dependence 73 

Short Sentences slightly Connected 76 

Lists of Words, Phrases, and Numbers 78 

SECT. HI. — THE COLON. 

Two Clauses not joined by a Conjunction 79 

Conjoined Members of Sentences 82 

Quotations, Kemarks, &c, formally Introduced 84 

SECT. IV. — THE PERIOD. 

Complete and Independent Sentences p 86 

Names, Titles, and other Words, abbreviated 89 

Marks or Figures used instead of Words 90 

Letters used for Figures or Words 90 



CHAP. HI. — THE GRAMMATICAL AND RHETORICAL 
POINTS. 

Introductory Observations 92 

SECT. I. — NOTES OF INTERROGATION AND EXCLAMATION. 

Expressions in the Form of Questions 93 

Expressions indicating Passion or Emotion 96 

SECT. n. — MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. 

Words thrown obliquely into the Body of a Sentence 99 

SECT. ni. — THE DASH. 

Broken and Epigrammatic Sentences 103 

A Concluding Clause on which other Expressions depend 106 

Words repeated Ehetorically 108 

Intermediate Expressions which are divisible Ill 

Ellipsis of the Adverb " Namely " 114 

Omission of Letters or Figures 116 

Subheads, &c, to Paragraphs 116 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAP. IV. — LETTER, SYLLABIC, AND QUOTATION 
POINTS. 

Page. 

Introductory Observations 117 

SECT. I. — THE APOSTROPHE. 

Contractions, or Words Shortened 118 

The Genitive or Possessive Case 121 

SECT. n. — THE HYPHEN. 

Kemarks on the Uses of the Hyphen 124 

Compound Words 125 

Prefixes in Derivative Words 126 

The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Pronunciation 130 
The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Form, Deri- 
vation, or Meaning 130 

SECT. III. — MARKS OF QUOTATION. 

Words borrowed from a Speaker or an Author 132 

One Quotation within Another 133 

Extracts composed of Successive Paragraphs 134 



CHAP. V. — MISCELLANEOUS MARKS. 

Brackets, or Crotchets 137 

A Comma Inverted 137 

Two Commas 138 

The Index, or Hand 138 

Three Stars . .138 

The Caret 138 

The Brace 138 

Leaders . . ^ 138 

Marks of Ellipsis 139 

Accents 139 

Marks of Quantity 139 

The Cedilla 140 

The Tilde , 140 

Marks of Reference 140 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



RULES ON THE USE OF CAPITALS. 

Page. 

The First Word of a Book, Tract, &c 141 

The First Word after a Full Point 141 

Appellations of God and Christ 142 

Titles of Honor and Eespect 142 

Names of Persons, Places, &c 143 

Nouns and Adjectives derived from Proper Names 143 

Words of Primary Importance 144 

The Pronoun /, and the Interjection 145 

Commencement of Lines in Verse 145 

Prosopopoeia, or Personification 145 

Quotations, Examples, &c 146 

Capitals used instead of Figures 146 

Titlepages, Inscriptions, &c 146 



GENERAL EXERCISES. 

The Two Roads, by Jean Paul Richter ^ . . 147 

A Taste for Reading, by George S. Hillard 149 

Ancient and Modern Writers, by Charles Sumner 151 

The Pen and the Press, by John Critchley Prince 152 



ELEMENTS 



ENGLISH PUNCTUATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

NATURE AND PLAN OF THE WORK, AND DEFINITIONS OF 
TERMS. 

What Punctuation is. — Punctuation is the art of 
dividing a written or printed discourse into sentences, and 
parts of sentences, by means of certain marks called points, 
for the purpose of exhibiting the various combinations, con- 
nections, and dependences of words. 

Its Uses. — The uses of Punctuation consist primarily in 
its developing, with as much clearness as possible, the sense 
and the grammatical constructions of a composition ; and 
secondarily in showing, to some extent, the various pauses 
which are requisite for accurate reading or delivery. 

Plan of the Work. — In entering on the practical 
mode of attaining the information required, it is proposed, 
for the sake of order and of clearness of conception, to regard 
the subject as separable into branches. We will therefore 
treat, in the first place, of the marks pertaining to sentences, 
which may be divided into two kinds, — the common or 
principal points, which are chiefly of a grammatical nature ; 
and the less common but equally necessary points, which, 
occurring as they often do in animated composition, and being 
used for' the twofold purpose of bringing out the sense and 

1 



2 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. 

aiding the delivery, are entitled to be spoken of as both 
grammatical and rhetorical. We will, lastly, speak of other 
marks, which either bear a more intimate relation -to letters 
and syllables than to words and sentences, or are of a 
varied and mixed character ; and hence these may be termed 
letter, syllabic, quotation, and miscellaneous points. 

Grammatical Kequisites. — Before, however, commen- 
cing to study the laws which regulate the use of punctuation- 
marks, the learner should know at least as much of grammar 
as will enable him to distinguish the different parts of speech 
into which language may be resolved. Besides this, it is 
essential that he be acquainted with the various kinds of 
sentences, their usual constructions, and the mode in which 
they may be analyzed into their component parts. Taking, 
therefore, for granted that he is not entirely ignorant of the 
principles of the English language, we will intrude into 
the province of the grammarian, only so far as may be 
necessary for the pupil to form correct notions of the mean- 
ing of a few terms, which will frequently occur in the rules 
and remarks, and without a due knowledge of which he 
would be unable fully to comprehend the laws of Punctuation. 

definitions or terms. 

I. A Sentence is an assemblage of words, so arranged as to form 
a proposition, or two or more related propositions ; making, directly 
or indirectly, complete sense. 

IT. A Simple Sentence expresses only a simple proposition. It 
consists of one nominative, subject, or thing spoken of, and of a single 
predicate, or affirmation concerning the subject ; as, — 

1. Calumny | destroys reputation. 2. The Creator | is good. 
3. Kings | reign. 

In these propositions, the words which precede the perpendicular 
lines are the subjects, or nominatives ; and those which follow are the 
predicates. 

A logician would define a proposition by stating it to be a sentence 
consisting of a subject; of the copula, or sign of predication ; and 



DEFINITIONS OP TERMS. 3 

of the predicate. But the explanation given will be found sufficiently 
correct for grammatical purposes. 

m. A Compound Sentence consists of two or more simple sen- 
tences in combination, and therefore contains more than one nomina- 
tive and finite verb, either expressed or understood ; as, — 

1. Virtue refines the affections ; but vice debases them. 

2. To err is human; to forgive, divine. 

3. Age, though it lessens the enjoyment of life, increases our desire of 

living. 

That these sentences are compound will be seen at once by resolving 
each into two simple sentences : " Virtue refines the affections. Vice, 
on the other hand, debases the affections." — " To err is human. To 
forgive is divine." — " Age lessens the enjoyment of life. It, how- 
ever, increases our desire of living." 

IV. Members. — When a sentence consists of several clauses, 
admitting of a union of some and a separation of others, those which 
are combined may together be called members ; as, — 

The ox knoweth his owner, | and the ass his master's crib : || but Israel 
doth not know ; | my people do not consider. 

In this example there are four clauses : the first two forming one 
member ; the latter two, another member. 

In many books, however, the word "member" is used in its primary 
and more extensive sense, as denoting any portion of a sentence, 
whether a single clause, a phrase, or a word. 

V. A Clause is a simple sentence, or part of a sentence, united to 
another, and contains a nominative and a finite verb, either expressed 
or understood ; as, — 

1. That high moral excellence is true greatness | cannot be denied. 

2. Candor is a quality | Avhich all admire. 

3. Though he slay me, | yet will I trust in him. 

4. The smile of gayety may be assumed, | while the heart aches within. 

5. Gentleness often disarms the fierce, | and melts the stubborn. 

When the subject of a proposition is itself a sentence, or contains a 
finite verb, as in No. 1, above, it is called a nominative clause; when 
a clause begins with a relative pronoun, as the last in No. 2, it is 
termed a relative clause ; when clauses are introduced by correspond- 
ing words, as " though " and " yet " in No. 3, they are named correla- 
tive ; when one clause is subject to another for completeness of sense, 
as those in No. 4, they are called dependent ; and when one is simply 
added to another, co-ordinate or consecutive clauses, as exemplified 
in No. 5. 



4 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. 

VI. A Phrase consists of at least two words, being a form of 
expression, or a part of a sentence, which has no finite verb, expressed 
or understood ; and which, therefore, does not of itself assert any- 
thing, or make complete sense ; as, — 

1. With speed. I 3. Awkward in person. I 5. Law and order. 

2. Of all our senses. | 4. Studious of praise. j 6. A man of wisdom. 

In works on grammar, these and similar expressions are sometimes 
called imperfect phrases ; but the definition just given will preclude 
the necessity of using the epithet. An article or any unemphatic 
word and a noun, or the simple infinitive, — as, " a book," " the man," 
" to love," — will, to avoid circumlocution, be treated in the following 
pages, not as a phrase, but as a word. 

A nominative phrase consists of two or more words standing as 
the subject of a proposition ; as, " Certain things are agreeable." 

An adjectival, a participial, a prepositional phrase, are phrases 
severally beginning with an adjective, a participle, or a preposition ; 
as, " Boundless as their diversity ; accustomed to strife j with great 
pie? sure." Those phrases, however, which, though commencing with 
a preposition, may be used instead of single adverbs, are commonly 
spoken of as adverbial phrases ; as, " In haste," for " hastily." 

The nominative absolute, participle absolute, and infinitive absolute, 
are phrases so called because they are grammatically independent of 
the other portions of the sentence in which they occur ; as, " He 
having arrived, we returned to the city." — " Properly speaking, 
nothing is perfect." — " To begin with the first, I assert," &c. 

VH. Terms and Expressions. — To avoid repetition, a word or 
a phrase is sometimes called a term; and a phrase or a clause, 
an expression. 

VLTI. Construction. — The construction of a sentence is the mode 
in which its materials — its words, phrases, or clauses — are combined 
and arranged. 

(1) When two or more terms or expressions qualify another, (2) or 
are qualified by it; (3) when they act as nominatives to the same 
verb, as subjects of the same predicate ; (4) when they are predicated 
of the same subject; (5) when they govern the same word or phrase, 
or (6) are governed by the same verb, participle, or preposition, — 
they are said to be in the same construction ; as, — 

1. The verses are hastily, and in many places unskilfully, written. 

2. All people admire men of great learning, talent, or genius. 

3. To soothe thy sickness and to watch thy health shall be my pleasure. 

4. The baron was a most honorable, valiant, faithful, and friendly person. 

5. Complaisance softens and humanizes men of fierce dispositions. 

6. My history relates to a period too recent to be remarked, and too far gone 

to be familiar. 



DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. 5 

In the first example, the adverbs " hastily," " unskilfully," qualify 
the participle " written j " and, in the second, the nouns " learning, 
talent, genius," are qualified by the adjective " great." In the third 
example, the infinitive phrases, " to soothe thy sickness " and " to 
watch thy health," act as nominatives to the verb " shall be," or as 
subjects of the predicate " shall be my pleasure ; " while, in the fourth, 
the adjectives " honorable, valiant, faithful, friendly," are predicated 
of " the baron." In the fifth example, the verbs " softens," " human- 
izes," govern the phrase " men of fierce dispositions ; " and, in the 
sixth, the expressions, " a period too recent to be remarked," " too 
far gone to be familiar," are governed by the preposition " to," or by 
the phrase " relates to." The adverbs referred to in the first exam- 
ple, the nouns in the second, the infinitive or nominative phrases in 
the third, the adjectives in the fourth, the verbs in the fifth, and the 
expressions in the sixth, are, therefore, respectively said to be in 
the same construction. 

Phrases and clauses connected in the same sentence, and formed 
alike, but without governing or qualifying others or being governed 
or qualified by them, are sometimes said to be in the same construc- 
tion. But it would be better to call them co-ordinate or similarly 
formed expressions. 

IX. Intermediate Words. — A word, a phrase, or a clause, is 
called intermediate when it occurs between the extremities of a sen- 
tence, or of a part of a sentence, and, though required to bring out 
the full sense of a passage, is not essential to its construction ; as, — 

1. Clouds and darkness, indeed, rest upon the future. 

2. His views, though large and liberal, were never extravagant. 

3. A geranium, which is all beauty, has no vanity. 

Here the terms and expressions, " indeed," " though large and libe- 
ral," "which is all beauty," are intermediate, because they do not 
begin or end each its own sentence, and, though necessary to the full 
sense, may be omitted without injury to the construction. 

Intermediate words, phrases, or clauses, are sometimes termed 
parenthetical. 

X. Correlatives. — When two words express reciprocal relations, 
or correspond one to another, they are termed correlative words ; as, 
" Pompey was not so brave a general as Caesar." — " Though the 
man was intellectually rich, yet he was morally poor." 

The phrases or clauses in which correlative words occur are called 
correlative expressions. 

Correlatives may be nouns, adjectives, or adverbs ; but those to 
which reference will be made in this work are chiefly of a conjunctive 
nature, denoting relations of various kinds, — sometimes that of con- 
nection, dependence, or consequence ; and sometimes of comparison, 
similitude, or equality. 



6 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. 

XI. Apposition. — Nouns, pronouns, or phrases, or a noun or 
pronoun and a phrase, are said to be in apposition, when put in the 
same case, and signifying the same thing, or when one is used as ex- 
planatory of the other ; as, " The river Thames." 

XII. A Series denotes a succession of three or more words, 
phrases, or clauses, joined in construction ; as, — 

1. The hermit's life is private, calm, devotional, and contemplative. 

2. Fire of imagination, strength of mind, and firmness of soul, are rare gifts. 

3. God's love watcheth over all, provideth for all, maketh wise adaptations 

for all. 

The first example exhibits a series of words ; the second, of phrases ; 
the third, of clauses. What are termed by elocutionists the members 
of a series will in this work be called particulars. 

XIII. A Compound Word consists of two or more simple or pri- 
mitive words ; as, — 

1. Fireside. 3. Self-conceit. 

2. Nevertheless. | 4. Fellow-workman. 

The simple words in compounds may, in general, be known from 
their being separately current in the language. For the sake of 
brevity, they are sometimes called simples or primitives. 

The term Derivative is restricted to a compound word, the por- 
tions of which are not each separately used in English ; as, manly, 
excitement, consciousness, generalization ; prospectus, circumstance, 
philosopher, theology. 



ORAL. EXERCISES. 

Mention the nature and uses of Punctuation, and analyze the following pieces of 
composition, agreeably to the present chapter : * — 

lo Studies. — Reading makes a full man ; conversation, a ready 
man ; and writing, an exact man. If, therefore, a man write little, he 
had need have a great memory ; if he converse little, he had need 
have a present wit ; and, if he read little, he had need have much 
cunning, to seem to know that which he doth not. — Lord Bacon, 
slightly altered. 

* Hint to the Teacher. — After the pupil has read the first exercise, or a portion 
of the others, the teacher may request him to point out the sentences of which it 
consists, to particularize the various clauses and phrases into which these sentences 
are divided, and to name severally the nominatives, or the subjects of propositions, 
and their predicates. It is also desirable that the pupil should show the principles 
according to which the sentences are constructed, by indicating such portions aa 
either modify or govern others, or are modified and governed by them. 



DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. 



ORAL EXERCISES (CONTINUED). 



2. GENIUS. — One may have a considerable degree of taste in 
poetry, eloquence, or any of the fine arts, who has little or hardly any 
genius for composition or execution in any of these arts ; but genius 
cannot be found without including, taste also. Genius, therefore, 
deserves to be considered as a higher power of the mind than taste. 
Genius always imports something inventive or creative, which does 
not rest in mere sensibility to beauty where it is perceived, but which 
can moreover produce new beauties, and exhibit them in such a man- 
ner as strongly to impress the minds of others. Refined taste forms 
a good critic ; but genius is further necessary to form the poet or the 
orator. — Blair. 

3. Love of Country. — The love of country, while good in mo- 
deration, becomes absurd and mischievous when carried to excess, or 
not governed by reason. We must not allow it to blind us to our 
defects as a nation, or to errors calling for correction in our social 
policy. We must not, because we love our own country, hate or 
despise other countries and their inhabitants : that would be as bad 
as if every man were to think so highly of himself as to believe that 
no other person had equal honor or virtue. While ready also to 
defend our country from unjust aggression, we must take care lest a 
disposition arise in us to use arms, without sufficient provocation, 
against neighboring countries ; for war is a tremendous evil, which 
should never be resorted to but under the strongest necessity. While 
seeking to promote the interests of our country in its manufactures 
and commerce, we must not allow ourselves to suppose, that, by injur- 
ing other countries in these respects, our own country will be benefited. 
Every country has, on the contrary, an interest in the prosperity of 
all other countries ; for, when any one is prosperous, it becomes able 
to buy from others what those others have to sell. In short, all the 
rules for the conduct of individuals apply equally to nations. We 
are to love ourselves so far as to seek by all fair means to advance 
our own interests ; but we are also to love our fellow-creatures, and 
do them all the good in our power. So a nation may love itself so 
far as to seek by all fair means to advance its own interests 5 but it is 
also to love its neighbors, and do them all possible good, and certainly 
no evil. Such conduct, in both cases alike, is good for both parties : 
for the more comfortable, happy, and good our neighbors are, it is 
the pleasanter and more profitable for us to live in the midst of them ; 
and the more prosperous, contented, and peaceable other countries 
are, it is the better for the prosperity and tranquillity of our own, — 
Chambers's Moral Class-Book* 

* Hint to the Teacher. —To elicit from his pupils further analyses of sentences, 
the teacher may select a well-written and appropriate piece from any of the re>:*cliug- 
books used in the school. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE GRAMMATICAL POINTS. 



In accordance with the plan which we have proposed, this 
chapter will be devoted to the consideration of the principal 
sentential marks, namely, — 

1. The Comma . . . . ... ... . . [ , ] 

2. The Semicolon [ ; ] 

3. The Colon [ : ] 

4. The Period ;...[.] 

The Comma marks the smallest grammatical division of a 
sentence, and usually represents the shortest pause ; the Semi- 
colon and the Colon separate those portions which are less 
connected than those divided by Commas, and admit each of 
a greater pause ; and the Period is, what its name denotes, a 
full stop, which commonly terminates a sentence.* 

The following passage, exemplifying the four grammatical 

points, will show how well they are fitted to mark out and to 

separate the classes of words of which discourse is composed : — 

He speaks, and his mandate is obeyed; he wishes, and his wish is gra- 
tified : all whom he sees obey him, and all whom he hears flatter him. But 
very different, Gregory, is thy condition. 

* Hint to the Teacher,. — The teacher should hear in mind, that the names of 
the points have been borrowed from the terms which ancient rhetoricians employed 
to indicate the various kinds of sentences, and the parts of which they consist. Thus 
the Period signified a complete circuit of words, — a sentence, making, from its com- 
mencement to its close, full and perfect sense ; the Colon was the greatest member or 
division of a period or sentence ; while the Comma indicated a smaller segment of 
the period, — the least constructive part of a sentence. The term Semicolon, as 
representing part of a sentence, does not seem to have been used. 

When the pupils have thoroughly understood the specific purposes for which the 
common points are used, the teacher may interest his class by reading a few select 
sentences, and showing the mode in which the terms comma, colon, and period, were 
anciently employed. 



THE COMMA. 9 

Here the period ending with the word " him " marks that location 
of the passage which separates it into two distinct sentences ; the colon 
points out the greatest separation, or, in other words, the most remote 
connection, which exists between the various elements of the first sen- 
tence; the semicolon shows the separation which is less remote than 
that indicated by the colon ; and the comma, the divisions between 
such expressions as have the greatest mutual relation, or are sepa- 
rated from each other by the least distinctions in thought.* 



Sect. I. — THE COMMA. 



The Comma [ , ] marks the smallest grammatical division 
in written or printed language, and commonly represents the 
shortest pause in audible reading. 

REMARKS. 

a. It will be noticed, that the comma is here said, not to mark the 
smallest segment of a composition, but only the least grammatical 
division ; that is, the least portion into which a sentence can be divided, 
when regard is had to the sense, and not to the delivery. But many 
sentences do not at all admit of being divided grammatically ; as, " The 
great use of books is to rouse us to thought ; ". though, when considered 
in a rhetorical or elocutionary light, they should be separated into 
parts, or groups of words, as in reading the example just given : " The 
great use of books ] is j to rouse us | to thought." 

b. Some grammarians say that the comma represents the shortest 
pause, and that this pause is equal to the time required for counting 
one ; but the remark admits of so many exceptions as to be without 
any practical value. Numerous instances occur in which the comma 
is so far from indicating the shortest pause, that a cessation of the 
voice equal to the time of counting one, two, if not three, is demanded 
both by the nature of the sentiment and the construction of the lan- 
guage ; as, for instance, after the word " vice," in the sentence, " Virtue 
is always advantageous ; vice, never." In other instances, the comma 
does not exhibit any pause whatever, but merely the grammatical 
division, as in the expression, " Yes, sir ; " where, in common or 
unemphatic discourse, no pause can be made between the words. 



* Hint to the Teacher. — Though to this lesson we attach no exercises, it is es- 
sential to the progress of the pupil that he he well acquainted with its contents; 
and the teacher should, therefore, put such questions as will necessarily bring into 
play the' judgment of those under his care. 



10 THE COMMA. 



RULE I. 

Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, connected by the 
Conjunctions akd, or, nor. 

Two words, belonging to the same part of speech, or used 
as such, when united in construction by one of the conjunc- 
tions and, or, nor, are not separated by a comma from each 
other. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Pay supreme and undivided homage to goodness and truth. 

2. Grand ideas and principles elevate or ennoble the mind. 

3. Benefits should be long and gratefully remembered. 

4. Virtue or vice predominates in every man and woman. 

5. Some monks may be said to be neither of nor in the world. 

6. The necessity and the use of physic have been much exaggerated. 

REMARKS. 

a. By comparing these examples with Definition VlLL, p. 4, the 
pupil will see that the words united by the conjunctions and, or, nor, 
are in construction one with another. But two nouns which are 
united by a conjunction, without being in the same construction, 
should be separated by a point ; as, " William spake to James, and 
Ellen to Mary." — " Men must have recreation ; and literature 
furnishes that which is most pure, innocent, and refining." 

6. The insertion of an article between connected words, as in the 
sixth example, does not at all affect the validity of the rule. (See 
p. 4, Definition VI.) 

c. When the first of two connected words is qualified by a pre- 
ceding adjective or adverb, which is inapplicable to the second, or 
when the latter is followed by a term not belonging to the former, a 
comma is usually required before the conjunction; as, "Donations 
will be tliankfidly received, and applied to the benefit of the suffer- 
ing poor." — " 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too." 

d. When the conjunction or stands between two nouns, or between 
a noun and a phrase, which are synonymous, or of which the latter 
is explanatory of the former, they may be separated by a comma 
from each other ; as, " The dwelling of Norma was not unaptly 
compared to the eyry of the ospray, or sea-eagle." 

e. Some punctuators would apply the preceding remark as a rule 
to all instances in which one of two words, coupled by the conjunc- 
tion or, is explanatory of the other. In nouns, we think, the comma 
is usually required, to show that the terms, which might otherwise 



TWO CONJOINED WORDS. 11 

be regarded as significant of two ideas or things, are designed to 
represent only one and the same; but the pointing of adjectives and 
adverbs similarly situated would, in many cases, tend, by the break- 
ing-up of the connection, to confuse, instead of assisting, the reader. 
Besides, it should be remembered that qualifying words are seldom, 
if ever, perfectly synonymous ; and that, even if they were exactly 
of the same signification, the omission of the commas could scarcely 
affect the sense. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 



After naming the four grammatical points, and describing the nature and uses 
of the comma, as mentioned in pp. 8, 9, state the first Rule, and assign the 
reason why the connected words in the following sentences are unpointed: — 

Liberty and eloquence have been united in all ages. 

Some children learn early to sing and to dance. 

It was the greatest act ever done by or for human beings. 

We often see rank or riches preferred to merit or talent. 

Let us cherish an earnest and a reverential love of truth. 

The liberal arts soften and harmonize the temper. 

No wife's or mother's care for him the milk or corn prepare. 

An unjust merchant is neither loved nor respected. 

Be vitally and practically interested in the well-being of all. 

Let nothing be done insincerely or hypocritically. 

Let neither indolence nor vice canker the promise of the heart. 

Within and without us are many foes to rectitude. 

The youth wrote letters both to and concerning the lady. 

The firmament and stars express their great Creator's skill. 



According to Remarks under Rule L, state the reasons for the omission or 
insertion of commas between conjoined ivords in the following sentences : - 

Socrates was a virtuous and a wise man. 

An acorn and a nut were lying side by side in the earth. 

I would be busy in works of labor and of skill. 

It is wonderful what genius, and adherence to nature, will do. 

A convenient spot, and surprise, effected his purpose. 

The prophet went, and addressed the people. 

God, and God only, is worthy of our supreme affections. 

The laverock, or lark, is distinguished for its singing. 

Parenthetical or intermediate words are often used. 



* Hint to the Teacher. — Before proceeding to. show how the sentences in these 
Oral Exercises are regulated hy Rule I. or by the Remarks, the pupil should, under 
the direction of the teacher, read correctly a few sentences aloud from the present or 
any other book, in order to see the difference which not unfrequently exists between 
rhetorical pauses and the grammatical points. (See Remark a f p. 9.) 



12 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN.* 

Write the following sentences, and punctuate those only which, agreeably to some 
of the Remarks in pp. 10, 11, should have commas : — 

How many a knot of mystery and misunderstanding would be 
untied by one word spoken in simple and confiding truth of heart ! 

The balmy influences of neither sea nor sky could revive or restore 
that great man. 

The greatest genius is never so great as when it is chastised and 
subdued by the highest reason. 

In composition there is a transposed or inverted order of words, as 
well as a conventional or common arrangement. (Remark e.) 

The Greek and Roman writers were once understood and relished 
in a remarkable degree. 

If we would not like to be frightened or deceived ourselves, it can- 
not be right to frighten or deceive others. 

The charms and beauty of Nature can truly delight him only who 
in her life views his own. 

Morality and religion itself, is degraded by the use of unmeaning 
terms. (Remark c.) 

Is it sickness or selfishness that spreads most misery through our 
homes ? 

The first end to which all wisdom or knowledge ought to be em- 
ployed is to illustrate the wisdom and goodness of God. 

Some have neither the resolution nor the power of carrying their 
projects to a completion. (Remark 6.) 

Pope examined lines and words with minute and punctilious ob- 
servation. 

I would calmly and humbly submit myself to the good and blessed 
will of God. 

Let us greet and take by the hand, those who were our youthful 
companions. (Remark c.) i 

A thoughtless person perpetually acts and speaks as if it were of 
no consequence what is said or done. 

The most ferocious conflicts have been brightened by examples of 
magnanimous and patriotic virtue. 

It was found exceedingly difficult or dangerous for the ship to enter 
the gulf or bay. (Remark d.) 

The human heart beats quick at the sight or hearing of courageous 
and disinterested deeds. 

Let not the hours of hospitality and pleasure interfere with the 
discharge of our necessary duties. 

In buying and selling, we must not in any way cheat or overreach 
each other. 

* Hint to the Teacher. — Some of the " Exercises to be written " will, as fn this 
page, be divided by a dash into two parts, for the easier apportionment of the lessons. 






TWO WORDS NOT CONJOINED. 13 



RULE n. 

Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, not connected by a 
Conjunction. 

Two words, of the same part of speech and in the same 
construction, if used without a conjunction between them, are 
separated from each other by a co mm a. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Lend, lend your wings. 

2. The dignity of a man consists in thought, intelligence. 
8. Can flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death ? 

4. The discipline of suffering nourishes, invigorates virtue. 

5. We are fearfully, wonderfully made. 

6. Their search extends along, around the path. 

REMARKS. 

a. The adverbs more and most, put before adjectives and adverbs, 
axe regarded as united with the words which they qualify ; as, " Never 
was beheld a fairer, more beautiful child." Here the punctuation is 
brought under the operation of the rule, because " more beautiful " 
is equivalent to the single but antiquated word beautif utter. 

b. The comma should be omitted between two adjectives, when 
the first qualifies the second adjective and a noun; as, "The emperor 
possessed a beautiful white horse ; " that is, the emperor had a white 
horse that was beautiful. Were a comma placed between the adjec- 
tives, the sense would be that he possessed a horse that was beautiful 
and white. 

c. When two adjectives not synonymous precede a noun, and con- 
vey only one idea, they are treated as a compound epithet, and united 
by a hyphen ; as, " The maidens danced amid the festal-sounding 
shades." 

d. If two nouns are used as a compound, whether so written or not, 
or if the former partakes of the nature of an adjective, they are not 
separated by a comma j as, " Walter Scott ranks high as a fiction- 
writer." 

e. When one adverb is followed by another, the former qualifying 
the latter, no comma is admissible ; as, " The part was remarkably 
well performed." 

/. When the first of two prepositions belongs to a verb, it should 
not be separated by a comma from that which immediately follows 
it; as, "He walks up towards the hill." Here the term "walks 
up " may be regarded as a compound verb. 

2 



14 THE COMMA. 

g. Conjunctions, of which some notice will be taken under Rule 
XL, are not subjected to the operation of the present rule ; as, " The 
pupil of a docile disposition not only loves, hut also venerates, his 
preceptor." 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Explain how Rule II. requires the insertion of commas between words of the 
same part of speech in the following sentences : — 

Tasso's conclave of fiends is a den of ugly, incongruous monsters. 
Nothing is so intelligible as sincere, disinterested love. 
Sound, sound the tambourine ! Strike, strike the mandaline 
The outward, material world is the shadow of the spiritual. 
Socrates and Plato were philosophers, sages. 
Genius is not a quality of idle, lazy men. 
Rash, fruitless war is only splendid murder. 
Fairly, rightly regarded, religion is the great sentiment of life. 
Some men have a distaste for plain, sober sense and dry reasoning. 
A steady, durable good cannot be derived from an external cause. 
A hardy, honest peasantry are the glory of an agricultural country. 
Both the idler and the industrious have faculties divine, eternal. 
Without inward, spiritual freedom, outward liberty is of little worth. 
Prosperity has multiplied our epicurean, self-indulgent habits. 
The sun looks down from heaven with a meek, unmelting light. 



State how the reasons given in the Remarks for the insertion or the omission of 
commas between woi^ds of the same part of speech (p. 13) will apply to the 
following sentences : * — 

The human soul is greater, more sacred, than the State. 

It is a matter of the finest, the most deliberate calculation. 

A sound moral judgment is of greater value than a fickle genius. 

The history of the humblest human life is a tale of marvels. 

Study the numberless little circumstances of a perplexing affair. 

How delightful to gaze at the dark-blue sky ! 

Behold that crowd of keen, anxious-looking men ! 

Some village Hampden here may rest. 

The traveller's guide-book blazes with confusion of splendor. 

The views we take are often very narrowly circumscribed. 

A stream of flame and smoke came out from the chimney. 

* To the Teacher. — The pupil's attention should be particularly directed to the 
fact, that, unless put in the same construction, the two words are not subject to 
the rule. Thus the sentences given as an exemplification of Remarks 5, c. d, e, /, 
do not allow a comma between the Italicized words, because, though of the same part 
of speech, they are not in construction one with the other. (See Definition VIII., 
pp. 4, 5.) 



TWO WORDS NOT CONJOINED. 15 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

In writing the following sentences, punctuate those words only which require 
commas, in accordance with the second Rule : — 

The young shepherd promised to buy me a pretty brown ribbon. 
(Remark 6.) 

All all, conjure us to act wisely faithfully, in the relation which we 
sustain. 

The rosy-crowned Loves, with their many-twinkling feet, frisk with 
antic Sports and blue-eyed Pleasures. (Remark c.) 

The intellect and the conscience are intimately indissolubly bound 
together. 

Not a few of the wisest grandest spirits have toiled at the work- 
bench and the plough. (Rule, and Remark d.) 

The human mind spreads its thoughts abroad into the immeasura- 
ble the infinite. 

Does not every man feel, that nothing nothing, could induce him 
to consent to become a slave ? 

Of intellectual gifts, the rarest the most glorious, is great inventive 
genius. (Remarks a, b.) 

Who will deny that imagination refines elevates, the other mental 
powers ? 

A desolate lonely feeling springs up of having exchanged their 
home for a distant foreign country. (Rule, and Remarks /, b.) 



The man of true refinement will not object to enter into the honest 
heartfelt enjoyments of common life. 

The sugar-cane and coffee-plant welcomed us from the snows of 
the Great St. Bernard. (Remark d.) 

All things must work together for certain good, so long as we con- 
tinue in free unconditional self-surrender to the service of God. 

Life is to some a heavy benumbing weight of personal helplessness 
and desolation. 

No great social change, however beneficial, can occur without par- 
tial temporary pain. (Remark b, and Rule.) 

A diviner philosophy awakens the soul to earnest joyful effort for 
its own perfection. 

It is not in the absolute external magnitude of the mountain that 
its real glory most consists. 

We should have a deeper a more vivid conviction of the importance 
the sacredness, of our work. (Remark a, and Rule.) 

This is a poor earthy world, unless it connect itself in our minds 
with the invisible. 

If you travel to become a better humaner man, the aim will insure 
the effect. 

Our reckless perilous locomotion in this country is but an emblem 
of our usual unrighteous haste. (Rule, and Remark 5.) 



16 THE COMMA. 

rule m. 

Series of Words of the same Part of Speech. 

In a series of words, all of the same part of speech, a 
comma is inserted between each particular.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential to happiness. 

2. Alfred the Great was a brave, pious, and patriotic prince. 

3. Happy is the man who honors, obeys, loves, or serves his Creator. 

4. The discourse was beautifully, elegantly, forcibly delivered. 

5. The spirit of the Almighty is within, around, and above us. 

EEJIAEKS. 

a. When three words of the same part of speech are in juxta- 
position, the last being preceded by and or or, but do not form a 
series, the comma is omitted before the conjunction; as, "By the 
wise arrangement of nature, infancy and childhood last long." Here 
the noun " nature " is governed by the preposition " of; " and the two 
following nouns, " infancy and childhood," are of themselves the com- 
pound nominative to the succeeding verb. The punctuation, therefore, 
differs from that of a sentence in which three words are used as a 
series, or in the same construction ; as, " Childhood, youth, and matu- 
rity last longer or shorter in different individuals." 

b. When three or more words of the same part of speech, and in 
the same construction, are severally connected by means of and, or, 
or no?*, the comma may be omitted after each of the particulars ; as, 
" Let us freely drink in the soul of love and beauty and wisdom from 
all nature and art and history." Some writers separate all such serial 
words by a comma ; but a mode of punctuation so stiff as this seldom 
aids in developing the sense, and, in sentences requiring other commas, 
is offensive to the eye, if it does not obscure the meaning. A correct 
reader will, however, as a matter of course, pause more or less between 
each particular, in accordance with the nature of the sentiment. 

* To the Teacher. — That the pupil may have a proper comprehension of the 
rule and the remarks, he should he required to explain what is meant hy a series of 
words. (See Definition XII., p. 6.) 

Some punctuists omit the comma between the last two particulars, when united 
by either of the conjunctions and, or, nor. But the propriety of inserting it will he 
obvious to any grammarian, if he consider that the last two words of a series are 
not more closely connected in construction with each other than with the preceding 
particulars ; as, " Infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and age are different stages 
in human life." 



SERIES OP WORDS. 17 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Recite the Rule (p. 16) for the insertion of commas betioeen words in a series, 
as exhibited in the following sentences : — 

Aright, aleft, above, below, he whirled the rapid sword. 

Spenser's command of imagery is wide, easy, and luxuriant. 

The mind is that which knows, feels, and thinks. 

Honor, affluence, and pleasure seduce the heart. 

The work was neither dexterously, quickly, nor well done. 

Milton's poetry is always healthful, bright, and vigorous. 

The child can creep, skip, walk, or run. 

Let great principles be wrought into the mind, the heart, the life. 

The love that woman inspires is exalted, tender, and beneficent. 

Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian are high authorities in rhetoric. 

The tendency of poetry is to refine, purify, expand, and elevate. 

His reign is that of a great, godlike, disinterested being. 

The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. 

Ulysses was wise, eloquent, cautious, and intrepid. 

The arts prolong, comfort, and cheer human life. 

Charity beareth, believeth, hopeth, all things. 

True politeness is modest, unpretending, and generous. 

Cultivate a kind, generous, and sympathizing temper. 

Learn patience, calmness, self-command, disinterestedness, love. 

The good will form new, holier, stronger ties above. 



Say ichy the omission of a comma betioeen the last two conjoined nouns in the 
following sentences does not accord with the Rule, but with Remark a : * — 

In Paradise, Adam and Eve reigned supreme. — There was, in 
Eve's every gesture, dignity and love. 

According to the Thompsonian philosophy, heat and cold are an- 
tagonist identities. 

In two branches of science, chemistry and natural history, medical 
men have been the most successful laborers. 

It is well calculated to render the timber impenetrable to the 
agents of decomposition, — air and moisture. 

Dr. TwitchelPs wonderful faculty often rendered the unintelligible 
plain and clear. 

In reference to time, hours and days are of great importance : in 
respect to eternity, years and ages are nothing. 

* To the Teacher. — The necessity for the punctuation recommended in the 
note on p. 16 "will he made more evident, if the teacher inspect the sentences here 
presented, and compare them with Remark a. He will see that they are distinguished 
from those exhibited under the preceding exercises and under the rule ; that they 
contain no example of a series of words ; and that the mode of pointing them must 
therefore be different. 

2* 



18 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

In putting commas between the serial words in the following sentences, be guided 
by the third Rule and the Eemarhs (p. 16) : — . 

The recovery of our little darling dancing singing Mary is worth 
all the gold that ever was mined. 

Is a poet utterly deprived of fitting themes, to whom ocean earth 
and sky are open ? 

The hardships of a good life prove refine and exalt the human 
character. 

No one can find peace but in the growth of an enlightened firm 
benevolent holy mind. 

All that charms the eye or the ear or the imagination or the heart 
is the gift of God. (Remark 6.) 

Ease indulgence luxury sloth, are the sources of misery ; making 
a man a poor sordid selfish wretched being. 

True courage is the exercise result and expression of the highest 
attributes of our nature. 

AH have some conceptions of truth kindness honesty self-denial 
and disinterestedness. 

Let us every day become more pure kind gentle patient spiritual 
and devout. 

The sphere in which we move and act and understand is of a wider 
circumference to one creature than another. (Remark b.) 



The Hebrew is closely allied to the Arabic the Phoenician the old 
Persian the Syriac and the Chaldee. 

Our present knowledge thoughts feelings characters, are the results 
of former impressions passions and pursuits. 

In heaven live the friends benefactors deliverers and ornaments of 
their race. 

In a city there is much to inflame imbitter degrade, the minds 
of the poor. 

Some have unreasonably denied the strength and fervor and endur- 
ingness of human love. (Remark b.) 

Meekly truthfully disinterestedly, the dying man had trod the path 
of life. 

Fountains lakes and rivers are as refreshing to the imagination as 
to the soil through which they pass. 

The stoical sect was distinguished for producing the most active 
intrepid virtuous men that ever did honor to human nature. 

In God we see every thing that we can imagine as great glorious 
or amiable. 

We are surer that we think and feel and will than that we have 
solid and extended limbs and organs. (Remark b.) 

Scholars have great pleasure in reading Herodotus Thucydides 
Xenophon Livy Sallust and Tacitus. 



TEEMS IN APPOSITION. 19 

RULE IV. 

Nouns or Phrases in Apposition. 

§ I. Two or more nouns, put in apposition, should not be 
separated by a point, if they constitute either a proper name 
or a single phrase. 

§ II. But two or more phrases in apposition are separated 
by a comma from each other, and, if the sentence or clause is 
unfinished, from what follows. 

EXAMPLES. 

§1. 

1. Sir William Jones was remarkable for the greatness of his attainments. 

2. It is well known that the word "philosopher" signifies lover of wisdom. 

§11. 

1. The twin sisters, Piety and Poetry, are wont to dwell together. 

2. Walter Scott, the fine poet, the great novelist, will never be forgotten. 

REMARKS. 

a. Two pronouns, or a pronoun and a noun, when in apposition, 
are, agreeably to the first section of the rule, not to be separated by a 
point ; as, " He himself was the editor of the work." But a pronoun 
or a noun and an explanatory phrase are subject to the punctuation 
required by the second section for two phrases ; as, " We, the people 
of the United States, are lovers of republicanism." 

b. A comma is put between two nouns or pronouns if used syno- 
nymously, or if the latter expresses an illustrative or an additional 
thought; as, "Force of voice is strength, energy; vivacity is life, 
animation." — "A son, John, was born after his father's death." — 
" Worship thy Creator, God" 

c. When a proper name is put after a phrase in apposition, the 
comma may be omitted ; as, " The great orator Cicero was famed for 
many excellences." Unless where the noun is introduced by way of 
explanation ; and, in such a case, it is preceded by a comma, and, in 
an unfinished clause, followed by the same point; as, "The wisest of 
the Jewish kings, Solomon, became a fool." 

d. The word brothers, when put in apposition with a proper name 
in a firm, is left unpointed ; as, " Smith Brothers and Co." 

e. When the first of two nouns of the possessive case has the sign 
of possession, a comma should intervene between them ; as, " The 
work will be found at Appletorfs, the bookseller." But, if the posses- 
sive sign is omitted after the first noun, and put after the second, the 
comma may be dispensed with; as, "At Putnam the publisher's." 



20 THE COMMA. 

f. If a term, preceding a noun or a pronoun, is used absolutely, a 
comma is inserted only between them ; as, " A trifling scholar, he 
heeds not the lessons of instruction." 

g. When a pronoun of the second person immediately precedes a 
noun, a relative pronoun, or a word or phrase used for a noun, the 
comma is unnecessary between them ; as, " Thou river, roll ; ye who 
are aged, come; all ye high Powers." But if the pronoun, as the 
nominative to a verb, or as the antecedent of a relative, is separated 
from them, or if it is put in the objective case, a comma should be 
put before and after the intervening term ; as, Thou, Father, markest 
the tears I shed." — " What art thou, execrable shape, that darest 
advance ? " — " On thee, beloved, I wait." 

h. When the latter of two nouns, pronouns, or phrases, is predi- 
cated of the former, the comma is not required between them ; as, 
" Plutarch calls lying the vice of slaves." — " The Romans thought 
Augustus Caesar a god.'" — " The people elected him president." 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Show how the following sentences exemplify the fourth Rule, in r 
insertion or omission of commas : — 

The Emperor Antoninus wrote an excellent work on morals. 

Mahomet was a native of Mecca, a city in Arabia. 

The term " reason " has been variously defined. 

Spenser the poet lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 

The frigate " Jamestown " conveyed corn to the suffering Irish. 

Chaucer wrote the " Squire's Tale," a tantalizing fragment. 



Say why, according to the preceding Remarks, commas are inserted or omitted 
inthe folloioing sentences : — 

I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. 

I, thy father-in-law Jethro, am come unto thee. 

The butterfly, child of the summer, flutters in the sun. 

" Adjunct " is derived from adjunctum, addition, something added. 

The eloquent preacher Massillon was a Frenchman. 

The author of " Paradise Lost," Milton, was a noble-minded man. 

At Thomson the hatter's store. — At Thomson's, the hatter. 

O Thou whose love can ne'er forget its offspring, man ! 

Ye Powers and Spirits of this nethermost abyss ! 

Thou, Lord, art the life and light of all this wondrous world. 

All agree in designating Howard a philanthropist. 

* To the Teacher. — To understand the rule and the remarks, and apply them 
to the punctuation of the sentences in these exercises, it is essential that the learner 
have a clear conception of the meaniDg of the term "Apposition." (See Defini- 
tion XI., p. 6.) 



TERMS IN APPOSITION. 21 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert commas where, according to pp. 19, 20, they are required : — 

In the Greek language, the word " poet " denotes a maker a crea- 
tor. (Rule, § I.) 

The Apostle John was peculiarly beloved by his divine Master 
Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. (Rule, both sections.) 

General "Washington the first president of the United States was a 
true patriot a genuine lover of his country. (Rule, § n.) 

Marcus Aurelius Antonmus says, " Often return to your true mother 
Philosophy." (Rule, § I. ; and Remark 6.) 

Much stress was laid upon pronunciation delivery by the most elo- 
quent of all orators Demosthenes. (Remark b, and last of c.) 

London the capital of Great Britain contains nearly three millions 
of inhabitants. (Remark a, last sentence.) 

A great and gloomy man the king sat upon the throne of his an- 
cestors. (Remark f.) 

I recommend the reading of good books as a source of improvement 
and delight. (Remark h.) 

The first expedition of Columbus was fitted out by John of Anjou 
Duke of Calabria. (Rule, § n.) 

Thou who hast at thy command the hearts of all men in thy 
hand ! (First of Remark g.~) 

1 Artaxerxes the king decree, that whatsoever Ezra the priest the 
scribe of the law shall require, &c. (Last of Remark a, and Rule.) 

The capital of Turkey Constantinople is finely situated on the 
European side of the Bosphorus. (Last of Remark c.) 

You blocks ! you stones ! you worse than senseless things ! O you 
hard hearts ! you cruel men of Rome ! (First of Remark g.) 

And, when the angel Death stands by, be thou my God my helper 
nigh. (Rule, § I. ; and last of Remark g.) 

When, as returns this solemn day, man comes to meet his Maker 
God. (Remark &.) 

The world-famed dramatist Shakspeare lived in the reign of the 
greatest of English queens Elizabeth. (Remark c, both portions.) 

Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of 
Solomon. (Remark a, last sentence.) 

Johnson's " Allegory of Criticism " an early paper in the " Ram- 
bier " is a pertinent illustration. (Rule, § II.) 

Cato the elder one of the consuls of Rome never wore a coat which 
cost him above a hundred pence. (Rule, both sections.) 

Diogenes the Greek philosopher lived in a tub. — Hope the balm 
of life soothes us under every misfortune. (Second of Remark a.) 

In the firm of Graham Brothers and Co., there are three persons in 
partnership, — James Graham, his younger brother, and John Jones. 
(Remark d.) 



22 THE COMMA. 

RULE V. 

Words or Phrases in Contrast. 

Words or phrases contrasted with each other, or having a 
mutual relation to others that follow them, in the same clause, 
are separated by commas.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The author of that work was a distinguished poet, but a bad man. 

2. Many persons gratify their eyes and ears, instead of their understandings. 

3. Prudence, as well as courage, is necessary to overcome obstacles. 

4. Strong proofs, not a loud voice, produce conviction. 

5. One may utter many pompous, and speak but few intelligible, words. 

6. Avoid, or rather prevent the introduction of, so pernicious a fashion. 

REMARKS. 

a. Not a few authors would write the fifth example without a 
comma after the adjective "intelligible." But though it is well to 
avoid the use of the point after a qualifying or a governing word 
when its omission could effect no ambiguity, as in the phrase " deep, 
lonely thought ; " yet where, as in the instance under the present 
rule, the words or phrases, which have a common relation to one and 
the same expression, stand apart, and the first is properly set off by a 
comma, the insertion of a corresponding comma after the second 
seems requisite for an easy obtaining of the sense. 

b. When two contrasted or related words, united by either of the 
conjunctions but, though, yet, as well as, qualify a following noun or 
phrase, or refer to the same preposition, the comma may be omitted ; 
as, " Caesar delivered his orations in elegant but powerful language." 
— " He was a great though an erring man." — " Hercules had the 
strength as well as the courage of the lion." 

c. But if the adverb not, either with or without a conjunction, comes 
between two such words, a comma should be used after each, in accord- 
ance with the rule, to indicate their common dependence on the last 
portion of the sentence ; as, " The strong and violent emotions are the 
natural produce of an early, if not of a savage, state of society." 

d. If the above-mentioned conjunctions unite not two words, but 
a word and a phrase, or two phrases, the commas should be inserted ; 
as, " Intemperance not only wastes the earnings, but the health and 

of men." 



* To the Teacher,. — The principle involved in the rule is, that antitheses, and 
the relations of two words or phrases to a third term, are in general more clearly 
indicated when such portions of a sentence are set apart by commas than if these 
were omitted. 



WORDS OR PHRASES IN CONTRAST. 23 

e. Commas should not be used between words contrasted in pairs, 
and having prepositions or conjunctions between them ; as, " Let 
elevation without turgidness, purity without primness, pathos without 
whining, characterize our style." — " Nothing is more wise or more 
admirable in action than to be resolute and yet calm, earnest and yet 
self-possessed, decided and yet modest." 

f. Two words or phrases connected by out or yet, or if either of 
these conjunctions be understood, are separated by a comma, when 
the first term is preceded by not or though ; as, " Not beautiful, but 
graceful." — "Though black, yet comely; and, though rash, benign." 

g. When a negative phrase, not immediately connected with a 
verb, is put before an affirmative one, and does not commence the 
sentence, the phrases are separated by a comma, not only from each 
other, but from that portion of the sentence which precedes them ; 
as, " The greatest evils arise to human society, not from wild beasts, 
but from untamed passions." 

h. In some instances, where the insertion of a comma between 
contrasted phrases, used as a compound intermediate expression, 
would tend to obscure the connection subsisting between the parts 
of a sentence, the point between the phrases may be omitted ; as, 
" The wise and good of every name are, with diversity of gifts but 
the same spirit, striving, each in his own way, to carry society for- 
ward into a healthier condition than the present." 



ORAL EXERCISES. 



Why, according to the fifth Rule, are certain words and phrases in the follow- 
ing sentences set off by commas ? — 

Measure your life by acts of goodness, not by years. 
Intrinsic worth, and not riches, ought to procure esteem. 
You were paid to fight against, and not to rail at, Alexander. 
Washington was the head of the nation, and not of a party. 
Rhetoric is the science, and oratory the art, of speaking well. 
There are few voices in the world, but many echoes. 
To die for truth is not to die for one's country, but for the world. 
We ought not to betray, but to defend, our country. 



State the princijrfes, as given in the Remarks, for the omission or the insertion 
of commas in the following sentences : — 

Philosophy makes us wiser, Christianity makes us better, men. 

Milton burned with a deep yet calm love of moral grandeur. 

He was the model as well as the teacher of his pupils. 

Socrates was directed by a good, if not a divine, genius. 

Learning is the ally, not the adversary, of genius. 

Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull. 

It is the duty of a child, not to direct, but to obey, his parents. 



24 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Punctuate those sentences which require commas, in accordance with the prin- 
ciples laid down in the preceding Rule and Remarks (pp. 22-3) : — 

It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections but to 
regulate them. 

Zeal without knowledge, courage without prudence, and peaceful- 
ness without principle, are dangerous qualities. (Remark e.) 

We live in deeds not years ; in thoughts not breaths 5 in feelings 
not in figures on a dial. 

Novel-reading is generally calculated to weaken if not to debase 
the moral powers. (Rule, and Remark c.) 

Punishments often shock instead of harmonizing with the common 
feeling and sense of justice. 

A man's self-reproach may be less for what one has than for what 
he has not done. (Rule, and Remark «.) 

He who is insensible to praise is either raised far above or sunk 
much below the ordinary standard of human nature. 

Christians have cast away the spirit in settling the precise dignity 
of then' Master. 

Benevolence is not merely a feeling but a principle ; not a dream 
of rapture for the fancy to indulge in but a business for the hand to 
execute. (Rule, and Remark/.) 

The Pyrrhonists not only doubted of every thing they saw and 
heard but of their own existence. 

A lofty rectitude marked every small as well as every great action 
of Washington's life. (Remark b.) 

The treasures of wisdom are not to be seized with a violent hand 
but to be earned by persevering labor. 

Those who flatter the prejudices of others are the enemies not the 
friends of the improvement and happiness of mankind. (Remark c.) 

God's love. to us is not a technical dogma but a living and practi- 
cal truth. 

Christianity may harmonize with but it needs not the sanction of 
philosophy. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

Knowledge is conducive if not essential to all the ends of virtue. 
(Rule, and Remark c.) 

Most of Homer's defects may reasonably be imputed not to his 
genius but to the manners of the age in which he lived. 

The great object of education is not to store the mind with know- 
ledge but to give activity and vigor to its powers. 

Motives of the most sincere though fanciful devotion induced the 
old man to renew the half-defaced inscriptions on the tombs of his 
ancestors. (Remark 6.) 

The missionary went forth, not only with the wisdom of the ser- 
pent but with the simplicity of the dove, to do battle against every 
form of error and vice. (Remark 7i.) 



THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE. 25 

RULE VI. 

The Subject and the Predicate. 

No point is admissible between the subject and the predi- 
cate, or after any term having a direct reference to what 
immediately follows. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Poetry has a natural alliance with the best affections of the human heart. 

2. A grandee on the exchange may be a pauper in God's universe. 

3. To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real defect in character. 

4. The love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the 

soul. 

REMARKS. 

a. In the above examples, the words " poetry," " grandee," " to be 
indifferent " (equivalent to the noun indifference), and " love," are the 
several nominatives to the verbs " has," " may be," and " is." Such 
phrases as " a grandee on the exchange," " to be totally indifferent to 
praise or censure," are sometimes called nominative phrases ; and 
such an expression as " the love which survives the tomb," a nomina- 
tive clause. (See Definitions V. and VI., pp. 3, 4.) But, logically 
speaking, all these are the subjects of what are severally predicated 
of them. 

b. In these examples, with a partial exception in the first, the 
nominatives and verbs are accompanied by certain modifying or 
limiting phrases, so strictly connected in sense with the former as to 
be grammatically inseparable from them. In other words, each of 
the sentences expresses an uninterrupted flow of thought, and there- 
fore allows no marked division. 

c. There is, however, a class of sentences in which the subject or 
the predicate is accompanied with expressions, qualifying or expla- 
natory, that are separable from the portions with which they are 
connected ; as, " The weakest reasoners, especicdly on the subject of 
religion, are, generally speaking, the most positive." — " Health, 
which is OooVs gift, should be preserved." In every such case, two 
commas must be used, as above, to show the relation of the nominative 
to its verb, and that of the verb to the chief words in the predicate. 

d. To the rule there are a few exceptions, required by the peculiar 
form in which a proposition is sometimes expressed, and by the fact 
that the insertion of a comma between the subject and the predicate 
tends occasionally to a clearer perception of an author's meaning. 
The exceptions are as follow : — 

3 



26 THE COMMA. 

e 1. When a sentence is so constructed as to leave it uncertain 
whether a modifying word belongs to the subject or the predicate, — 
as in the passage, " The man of talent merely is strong for enterprise 
and execution," — a comma should be introduced where it will best 
develop the sense. If the aim of the writer was to speak of a man 
of mere talent, the comma should be inserted after the adverb 
" merely ; " but, if of a man of talent who is strong only for enter- 
prise and execution, it should be placed before the adverb. 

e 2. When the subject consists of two or more nouns not united 
by a conjunction, a comma is required before the predicate ; as, " Im- 
mensity, sublimity, are expressed by a prolongation of the voice." — 
" Hiches, pleasure, health, become evils to those who do not know how 
to use them." If, however, the nouns are joined by the conjunction 
and, the comma between the subject and the predicate is omitted; 
as, " Sculpture, painting, and poetry will always have admirers." 

e 3. When the last two of several nouns are united by the conjunc- 
tion or or nor, a comma should be inserted before the predicate ; as, 
" The sage, the saint, or the hero, often lies concealed in a plebeian." 

e 4. When the nominative is followed by two or more words which 
belong to it, and between which a comma must be inserted, a comma 
is required also before the verb ; as, " A new feeling of what is due 
to the ignorant, the poor, and the depraved, lias sprung up in society." 
— " Worlds above, around, and beneath, arch thee about as a centre." 

e 5. When between the extremities, either of a nominative clause 
or of its predicate, occurs a word or an expression requiring to be 
marked off by commas, a comma should also be introduced imme- 
diately before the predicate ; as, " The success with which Rousseau 
passed, coarse and selfish as he was, for a man of deep and tender 
feeling, appears to have been the signal for a procession of writers to 
withdraw the public attention from their own transgressions." — " The 
evil which is intermixed in human society, serves, without question, 
to exercise the noblest virtues of the human soul." 

e 6. When the subject consists of a nominative clause, which is apt 
to be read so closely with the predicate as to confound the sense, a 
comma should precede the verb; as, "He that sees a building as 
a common spectator, contents himself with speaking of it in general 
terms." — " He that places himself neither higher nor lower than he 
ought to do, exercises the truest humility." — " Whatever is, is right." 
" The defendant served, moved to set aside the summons." 

e 7. When a subject is repeated in a different form before its verb, 
as sometimes ungrammatically occurs, a comma may be used, in 
solemn or forcible language, between the two forms ; as, " The works 
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me." But, when 
these modes of expression are used in familiar kinds of writing, it is 
better to omit the comma; as, "My flocks they do wander." 



THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE. 27 

f. A comma should not be inserted after any of the forms of the 
verb to be, when used as a copula, or connecting link, between the sub- 
ject and the predicate ; or before a verb in the infinitive mood, when 
preceded by another verb ; as, " The sole object of importance is the 
moral development of society." — " It ill becomes wise and good men 
to oppose and degrade one another." 



ORAL. EXERCISES. 

Explain hovj it is, that, according to the sixth Rule (p. 25), commas are unneces- 
sary in the folloioing propositions : * — 

Nature has given all men some conceptions of immortality. 
The region beyond the grave is not a solitary land. 
Simplicity of life and manners produces tranquillity of mind. 
Human affairs are in continual motion and fluctuation. 
To calculate shrewdly is different from meditating wisely. 
The earth-clod of the globe has been divinely breathed upon. 
Aptitude for business is not power of reason. 
The best monuments of the virtuous are their actions. 
Misery is the necessary result of a deviation from rectitude. 
Sensitiveness to the approbation of virtuous men is laudable. 
The streams of small pleasures fill the lake of happiness. 
Intemperance is the grossest abuse of the gifts of Providence. 
His being a scholar prevented any gross mistake in his style. 
He who masters his passions conquers his greatest enemy. 



Agreeably to the preceding Remarks, mention why the sentences that follow are 
pointed or unpointed with commas : — 

Light, whether it be material or spiritual, is the best reformer. 

He who teaches, often learns himself. 

Those who were not so, became cringing and hypocritical. 

Most of those who have nothing to do, commonly do nothing. 

He who made it, now preserves and governs it. 

A youth, a boy, a child, might understand the question. 

Job, Hesiod, and Homer mention several of the constellations. 

Neither Swift, Prior, nor Gay, was a sublime poet. 

The idea of what ought to be, rises up from the bosom of what is. 

Whoever firmly wills, will be a good man. 

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 

The damsels they laugh, and the barons they stare. 

It needs a divine man to exhibit any thing divine. 

It is our duty to appropriate our time to valuable purposes. 

* To the Teachek. — The author's reasons for generally omitting the comma after 
inseparable adjunctives to nominatives may be seen in his larger work, the " Treatise 
on English Punctuation," p. 51. 



28 THE COMMA. 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert commas only where required by the Remarks (pp. 25-7) : — 

It is not in our power to change the established order of things. 
(Remark f, and Rule.) 

Patience with the erring and offending is one of the holiest of all 
forms of character. 

Philosophy, religion tend to promote just and honorable views of 
the Creator of the universe. (First of Remark e 2.) 

Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive 
of the greatest minds. 

The highest art of the mind of man is to possess itself with tran- 
quillity in the hour of danger. (Rule, and Remark f.) 

He who follows the pleasures of the world is in constant search of 
care and remorse. 

To mourn deeply for the death of another loosens from myself the 
petty desire for life. (Remark e 6.) 

The vigorous character of composition depends on the decision with 
which the mind grasps a truth. 

That our age holds an amount of refinement and civilization which 
preceding ages did not have seems evident. (Remark e 6.) 

An excessive or indiscriminate reading of novels and romances is 
exceedingly injurious to the young. 

To live soberly, righteously, and piously comprehends the whole of 
our duty. (Remark e 1 or 4.) 

Sincere respect for the men of early times may be joined with a 
clear perception of their weaknesses and errors. 

He who loves the bristle of bayonets only sees in their glitter what 
beforehand he felt in his heart. (Remark e 1.) 

To walk beneath the. porch is still infinitely less than to kneel be- 
fore the cross. 

The swan whose neck is out of all proportion to his body is the 
most beautiful of all birds. (Remark c.) 

The great sources of intellectual power and progress to a people 
are its strong and original thinkers. 

He who troubles himself more than he needs grieves also more 
than is necessary. (Remark e 6.) ' 

The grammatical points are not sufficient to indicate either the 
number or the duration of the pauses. 

Intelligence, beauty, and modesty are the principal charms of 
woman. (Remark e 2, last sentence.) 

The impartial distribution of posthumous fame or censure must 
have some effect on the most callous and unprincipled. 

Joy, grief, love, admiration, devotion are ail of them passions which 
are naturally musical. (Remark e 2, first portion.) 

The highest literature and art of every age embody its highest 
spiritual ideal of excellence. 



RELATIVE CLAUSES. 29 

RULE vn. 

Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses. 

§ I. A comma is put before a relative clause which explains 
the antecedent, or presents an additional thought. 

§ II. But the point is omitted before a relative which 
restricts the general meaning of the antecedent to a particular 
sense. 

EXAMPLES. 

§ I. 

1. Behold the emblem of thy state in flowers, which bloom and die ! 

2. Study nature, whose laws and phenomena are all deeply interesting. 

3. Channing has set forth great and universal truths, that cannot perish. 

4. These were small states, in which every man felt himself to be important. 

5. No poet can equal Shakspeare, from whom all may derive wisdom. 

§ II. 

1. Every teacher must love a boy w T ho is attentive and docile. 

2. Happy are the people whose history is the most wearisome to read. 

3. Urbanity often lends a grace to actions that are of themselves ungracious. 

4. Some men engage in labors in which they afterwards take no delight. 

5. It is barbarous to injure those from whom we have received a kindness. 

REMARKS. 

a. By comparing any of the examples in the first class with its 
corresponding one or any other in the second, the pupil will see that 
they are essentially different as to the senses intended to be conveyed. 
In the former class, the clause at the beginning of the sentence, which 
contains the antecedent, is of a general character ; that at the end — 
the relative clause — presents something additional, or explanatory 
of what has been said. In the latter class, the antecedent clause 
lays down a proposition which is restrained or limited in its sense by 
the relative. * fc 

b. If a relative clause which is explanatory of the antecedent be 
placed between the extremities of a sentence, a comma is required 
both after the antecedent word or phrase, and before that verb of 
which it is the nominative ; as, " Slaves and savages, who receive no 
education, are proverbially indolent." (See p. 34.) 

c. But if the nominative is accompanied by a limiting relative 
clause, — or, to speak more accurately, if the subject is composed of 
an antecedent and a relative clause, — both points should be omitted ; 
as, " The man who is faithfidly attached to religion may be relied 
on with confidence." For, were a comma placed after either " man " 

3* 



30 THE COMMA. 

or " religion," or after words corresponding to these in similar sen- 
tences, a separation would be made between parts, which, from their 
restrictive character, are obviously inseparable. 

d. When, however, the antecedent consists of nouns or phrases 
between which commas are required, a comma should also be inserted 
before the relative clause, though restrictive; as, "There are many 
dreams, fictions, or theories, which men substitute for truth." 

e. A comma, may also be put before the relative pronoun, even 
when restrictive, if it is immediately followed by a word or an ex- 
pression enclosed by commas, and especially if the antecedent is 
qualified by an adjective ; as, " It was only a few discerning friends, 
who, in the native vigor of his powers, perceived the dawn of Robert- 
son's future eminence." 

f A comma should be put before a restrictive relative, when, being 
separated by several words from its grammatical antecedent, it might 
improperly be read so as to refer to a proximate term ; as, " Creeds 
too often carry, in their ruins, the seeds of that faith in the divine and 
eternal, without which our nobler nature starves and perishes." 

g. To prevent ambiguity, a comma is sometimes put before the 
words, of which, of whom, even when used restrictively, to distin- 
guish the preposition from that which connects two nouns, one of 
which governs the other ; as, " Compassion is an emotion, of which 
you should never be ashamed." — "No thought can be just, of 
which good sense is not the groundwork." — " No thought, of which 
good sense is not the groundwork, can be just." The insertion of the 
point will distinguish phrases of this kind from such as occur in 
the following sentences : " Compassion is an emotion of grief for the 
sufferings of others." — " The actions of princes are like those great 
rivers, the courses of which every one beholds, but whose springs 
have been seen by few." 

h. The principles stated in both divisions of the rule are applicable 
to sentences in which an adverb is put for a relative pronoun ; as, " The 
philosophers took refuge in Persia, where [in which country] they soon 
became dispersed." — " Mark the majestic simplicity of those laws 
whereby [by which] the operations x>f the universe are conducted." 

*. Sentences in which the relative pronoun may be supplied are 
subject to the same rules as those in which it is expressed ; as, " Ge- 
nius is not a single faculty of the mind, distinct from all the rest." — 
" Genius is not a faculty of the mind separate from all the rest." In 
both forms of the example, the relative pronoun with the verb, which 
is, is understood after the word " mind ; " but in the former the comma 
is used, because the first clause makes perfect sense of itself, and the 
second is explanatory. In the latter form, the comma is omitted, 
because both clauses are so blended as to be inseparable in sense ; the 
first being restrained or limited in its meaning by the second. 



RELATIVE CLAUSES. 31 

j. When a present participle is put instead of a relative and a verb, 
the insertion or omission of the comma will also depend on the principle 
just stated ; as, " The path of mere power is that of the cannon-ball, 
destroying [which destroys} every thing in its course." — " There are 
moral principles slumbering in the souls of the most depraved." 

h. Sometimes, however, a restrictive clause of the kind mentioned 
in the two foregoing remarks should be preceded by a comma, when, 
its antecedent being removed at some distance from the relative pro- 
noun, the latter is in danger of being connected too closely with a 
nearer noun ; as, " Commercial nations have an apathy to amuse- 
ment, distinct from mere gravity of disposition." A comma may 
also be inserted before and after a clause beginning with an adjective 
or a past participle, if introduced between the extremities of a sen- 
tence, in order to show the alliance of the nominative with its verb, 
or of one noun with another ; as, "A man, distinguished for his 
virtues and attainments, is commonly respected." 

I. When the ellipsis may be supplied with the adverb when, involv- 
ing in its signification a nominative or a relative and a verb, a comma 
should be inserted before two adjectives or participles restrictive or 
unrestrictive, or an adjective or participle with words depending on it ; 
as, " Man, ignorant and uncivilized, is a ferocious savage." — " The 
death of Socrates, philosophizing with his friends, is the most plea- 
sant that could be desired." 

m. When only the relative pronoun is understood, the antecedent 
should be left unpointed ; as, " The laws we reverence are our brave 
fathers' legacy ; " that is, the laws which we reverence. 



ORAL EXERCISES.* 

State the principles in the seventh Rule (p. 29), and shoio how they may be 
applied to the sentences that follow : — 

Avoid rudeness of manners, which must hurt the feelings of others. 
Every good man must love the country in which he was born. 
The child was much attached to Jane, who loved him dearly. 
Virtue is that to which the* man himself contributes. 
What is more wonderful than the human eye, that sees all around. 
Death is the season which brings our affections to the test. 
Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds. 
Christianity is a religion whose origin is unquestionably divine. 
He who reads in a proper spirit can scarcely read too much. 
Nothing is in vain that rouses the mind to thought and reflection. 
No faculty lives within us which the soul can spare. 
War is a tremendous evil, to which many have unhappily resorted. 

* To the Teacher. — To know when to insert or to omit the comma before a rela- 
tive pronoun or its preposition, it is essential that the pupil be made thoroughly 



32 THE COMMA. 

Mention the reasons, given in the Remarks (pp. 29-31), for inserting or omitting 
commas in such sentences as the following : — 

Satan, whom now transcendent' glory raised above his fellows, spake. 

The eye, that sees all things, sees not itself. 

Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days. 

The credulity which has faith in goodness is a sign of goodness. 

He that is slow to anger is better and nobler than the mighty. 

Where is the philosopher, the man, who would thus live and die ? 

He questioned me of the battles, sieges, fortunes, that I have passed. 

The large book, which I bought years ago, has not yet been read. 

There is in man a craving for enjoyment, which cannot be destroyed. 

William left the city of New York, where he was doing well. 

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony. 

Adopt a plan of life founded on religion and virtue. 

A great mind gazeth on the sun, glorying in its brightness. 

Genius addresses the consciousness existing in all men. 

Physical science, separate from morals, parts with its chief dignity. 

Socrates was one of the greatest sages the world ever saw. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 



Punctuate, or leave unpointed, the following sentences, as required by the pr> 
Rule and Remarks (pp. 29-31) : — 



There is a philosophic spirit which is far more valuable than any 
limited acquirements of philosophy. (Rule, § II.) 

We read, with a reverential love, of men devoting themselves to 
the interests of humanity. (Last of Remark j.) 

The lever which moves the world of mind is emphatically the 
printing-press. (Rule,-§ n. ; and Remark c.) 

Youth is introductory to manhood to which it is a state of prepara- 
tion. (Rule, § i.) 

To the Father of lights in whom there is no darkness are we in- 
debted for all the blessings we enjoy. (Rule, § I. ; Remarks b, m.) 

Some countries are infested with bands of robbers who attack 
travellers in the open day. (Rule, § i.) 

Set at nought the grosser pleasures of sense whereof others are 
slaves. (Remark h, compared with g.) 

May we be living flowers in those everlasting gardens of the Lord 
where angels and seraphs are the guardians ! (Remarks h, f.) 

Antiquity would have raised altars to that vast and mighty genius 
who, for the advantage of human-kind, could tame the rage of thunder 
and of despotism. (Remark e.) 

conversant with the nature of the restrictive and the explanatory clauses in which 
it occurs. It is, therefore, desirable that the teacher should, in accordance with 
Remark a, p. 29, show to his class how the two sections of the Rule will apply to their 
respective exemplifications. 



RELATIVE. CLAUSES. 33 

The brightest part of thy life is nothing but a flower which withers 
almost as soon as it has blown. (Rule, § i.) 

Columbus was sent to the university of Padua where he acquired 
such knowledge as was then taught. (Remark Ji.) 

Does the sentiment of patriotism reign in the common soldier who 
hires himself to be shot at for a few cents a day. (Rule, § I.) 

A government directing itself resolutely and steadily to the general 
good becomes a minister of virtue. (Remark I.) 

The entrance on a new course awakens new energies and powers 
which rapidly unfold into life and vigor. (Rule, § I.) . 

The tribes who expose new-born infants condemn those who aban- 
don their decrepit parents to destruction. (Rule, § n.) 

The father of history was Herodotus from whom we have an account 
of the Persian war. (Rule, § I.) 

No man can be a thorough proficient in navigation who has never 
been at sea. (Rule, § II.) 

We should trace in all events the wisdom and benevolence of God 
from whom descendeth every good and perfect gift. (Rule, § I.) 

A good reader will often pause where no grammarian would insert 
a point ; and, on the other hand, he will sometimes neglect the com- 
mas he finds inserted by the writer. (Remarks h and m.) 

It is the spirit or motive from which we do any work that con- 
stitutes it base or noble. (Rule, § II.) 

There was nothing in the mind of Jesus of which you have not the 
principle and the capacity in yourself. (Remark g.) 

Science and Poetry alike recognizing the order and the beauty of 
the universe are alike handmaids of Devotion. (Remark I.) 

Go not from the world with the joyless consciousness of those to 
whom the fountains of its purest bliss have been sealed. (Rule, § n.) 

Aid in reforming those social abuses the existence of which casts 
a gloom and blight on the happiness of all. (Last of Remark g.) 

The benefit arising to us from an enlarged understanding cannot 
well be overrated. (Last of Remark j.) 

The seeds of genius which contain within themselves the germs of 
expanded beauties and divinest sublimities cannot perish. (Rule, § I.) 

You may treat fife as a problem which has to be wrought out to a 
successful result. (Rule, § I.) 

The memory of the eyes that hung over a man in infancy and child- 
hood will haunt him through all his after-life. (Rule, § n. ; Rem. c.) 

The Greeks may well boast of having produced a Euclid whose 
works are esteemed even by the profoundest mathematicians in modern 
times. (Rule, § I.) * 

* To the Teacher. — As many of the sentences in this and the two preceding 
pages afford an exemplification of Rule VI. and Remark c (p. 25), the judgment of 
the pupil will be well exercised if he is required to point them out, and to show then- 
application. 



34 THE COMMA. 

RULE VIII. 

Intermediate Phrases and Clauses. 

Expressions of an intermediate nature are separated from 
the context by commas.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The sun, with all its attendant planets, is but a very little part of the 

grand machine of the universe. 

2. Books, regarded merely as a gratification, are worth more than all the 

luxuries on earth. 

3. The man of refinement and sensibility finds himself, as it were, in ac- 

cordance with universal nature. 

4. A man of more than ordinary intellectual vigor may, for want of the 

faculty of expression, be a cipher in society. 

REMARKS. 

a. Many short expressions which were formerly enclosed within 
marks of parenthesis ( ), and which, on account of their construction 
differing from that of the other portions of the sentence, may properly 
be called parentheses, are now usually pointed off by commas ; as, 
" Study, I beseech you, to store your minds with the exquisite learn- 
ing of former ages." — " ' Thirst for glory,' says a great writer, ' is 
often founded on ambition and vanity.' " As these short expressions 
interfere but slightly with the unity of thought conveyed in the con- 
text, commas are preferable to the parenthetical marks. 

b. Many writers are accustomed to omit the comma, in all cases, 
after a conjunction ; but it is evident, that, when a word of this or 
any other part of speech is divided by a phrase or clause from the 
portion of the sentence to which it belongs, such intervening expres- 
sion should have a comma before as well as after it, as in the following 
example : " Agamemnon still lives before us in the ' tale of Troy 
divine ; ' but, were not his name embalmed in that imperishable song, 
there would not now be a rack of it." 

c. Short intermediate phrases, when closely united in sense to the 
context, and particularly when introduced into what is itself interme- 
diate, should be left unpointed; as, "Poesy can portray with much 
energy the excesses of the passions." This is further exemplified in 

* To the Teacher. — As no rule in punctuation can be applied more frequently 
than this to a clear development of the structure and sense of passages, and as none 
is less understood by the generality of writers, the teacher cannot be too careful in 
explaining to his pupils what it is that constitutes an intermediate expression. (See 
Definition IX., p. 5.) 



INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS. 35 

a clause of the remark just made, — " when closely united in sense 
to the context ; " in which the Italicized words partake somewhat of 
the nature of an intermediate phrase, but are better read in union 
with the words that precede and follow them. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Assign the reason, as given in the eighth Rule, for the insertion of commas in 
the following sentences : — 

Can great truths, after having been once developed, die ? 

Every passion, however base or unworthy, is eloquent. 

Some men are refined, like gold, in the furnace of affliction. 

It is mind, after all, which does the work of the world. 

Nature, through all her works, delights in variety. 

The ship leaps, as it were, from billow to billow. 

A spiritual nature, to grow in power, demands spiritual liberty. 

The ocean, in its mighty heavings, makes you serious. 

Dismiss, as soon as may be, all angry and wrathful thoughts. 

But, if education cannot do every thing, it can do much. 

Let us send light and joy, if we can, to every one around us. 

Man, in his highest mood of thought, aspires to God. 

There, where knowledge ceases, faith should strongest prove. 

Take your lot, as it is assigned to you, without murmuring or complaint. 

Christianity, in the highest sense, is the religion of sorrow. 



Why, according to the preceding Rule or the Remarks, are the intermediate 
expressions in the following sentences pointed or unpointed ? — 

Thou knowest, come what may, that the light of truth cannot be 
put out. 

Of nothing may we be more sure than this, that, if we cannot 
sanctify our present lot, we could sanctify no other. 

The travellers set out early, and, before the close of the day, ar- 
rived at the destined place. 

But, in the formation of character, we know that man is to lay its 
foundations for himself. 

Yet, after leaving school, Cowper threw away the next twenty or 
thirty years of his life almost in doing nothing. 

We can sometimes trace extraordinary skill in the liberal arts to 
the existence of a quarry of fine marble. 

Civilization, which on the whole has never gone backward, is new- 
shaped and modified by each particular people. 

The greatest of all human benefits, that at least without which no 
other benefits can be truly enjoyed, is independence. 

Burke and Paine were incarnations of the spirits whose conflict has 
for ages divided the world. 



36 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Point the intermediate expressions, except those to which Remark c (p. 34) will 
apply: — 

A single hour in the day steadily given to the study of an interest- 
ing subject brings unexpected accumulations of knowledge. 

We should remember, that sorrow is at once the lot, the trial, and 
the privilege of man. (Remark c.) 

Benevolence is on whatever side we may contemplate the subject 
a godlike virtue. 

True it is, that were we cast from birth into solitude we should 
grow up in brutal ignorance. (Rule, and Remark &.) 

Excellence is in any position almost the infallible result of the 
determination to excel. 

" The virtuous man " it has been beautifully said " proceeds with- 
out constraint in the path of his duty." (Remarks a and c.) 

In Dante for the first time in an uninspired bard the dawn of a 
spiritual day breaks upon us. 

But when the subject for grief is fixed and inevitable sorrow is to 
be borne like pain. (Remark b, and Rule.) 

A people should honor and cultivate as unspeakably useful that 
literature which calls forth the highest faculties. 

Without fairness of mind which is only another phrase for disinter- 
ested love of truth great native powers of understanding are perverted. 



Simple truths when simply explained are more easily comprehended 
I believe than is commonly supposed. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

I would stamp God's name and not Satan's upon every innocent 
pleasure. 

And if the intellect requires to be provided with perpetual objects 
what must it be with the affections ? (Remark 6, and Rule.) 

Fanaticism in its ill sense is that which makes a man blind to 
perceive the falseness of an error. 

Washington's courage whether in battle or in council was as perfect 
as might be expected from his pure and steady temper of soul. 

I maintain, that as knowledge extends the range of all imagery is 
enlarged ; and what is far more important that the conception kindles 
by the contemplation of higher objects. (Remarks a, 5.) 

The love of the beautiful and true like the dewdrop in the heart of 
the crystal remains for ever clear and liquid in the inmost shrine 
of man's being. (Rule, and Remark c.) 

Numerous instances there have been as every reader knows of 
those who have thrown down every obstacle in the way of their men- 
tal elevation. (Remark a.) 

We cannot see an individual expire though a stranger or an 
enemy without being prompted by compassion to lend him every 
assistance in our power. (Rule, and Remark c.) 



VOCATIVE WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS. 37 

RULE IX. 

Vocative Words, Phrases, and Clauses. 
A word or an expression, denoting a person or an object 
addressed,* is separated by a comma from the rest of the 
sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Antonio, light my lamp within my chamber. 

2. Take these two savages to your care, Charon. 

3. Boast not, my dear friends, of to-morrow. 

KEMAEKS. 

a. When the terms or expressions in a direct address indicate awe, 
wonder, or any other strong emotion, it is better to use after them 
the note of exclamation ; as, " My sister ! O my sister ! " 

o. For the punctuation of the personal pronoun in a vocative ex- 
pression, see p. 20, Remark g. 

ORAL EXERCISE. 

Assign the reason for the insertion of commas in the following sentences : — 

Sir, I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your long-expected letter. 

I am obliged to you, ladies,- for the kindness you have shown. 

Come hither, Moor. — What would you, Desdemona ? 

From childhood, seignior, you have been my protector. 

Idle time, John, is the most ruinous thing in the world. 

Come, companion of my toils, let us take fresh courage. 

All hope abandon, ye who enter here. — I am, dear madam, yours. 



EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

Punctuate these sentences in accordance with the above Rule : — 

Continue my dear James to make virtue your principal study. 

Acquire my daughters the habit of doing every thing well. 

Descend from heaven Urania. — You weep good Ethelbert. 

Sir the declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. 

This my lords is a perilous and tremendous moment. 

Verres what have you to advance against this charge ? 

Morning is the best time to study my beloved children. 

Thou who despisest the outward forms lose not the inward spirit. 

* To the Teacher. — The teacher may, if he chooses, adopt the more modern 
nomenclature, and require his pupils to call this the case independent hy address. 
But, if he refer to the examples in Remark g-, p. 20, where it is put in apposition with 
nouns or pronouns both in the nominative and the objective case, it may seem ques- 
tionable whether such a name will always denote its real character. 

4 



38 THE COMMA. 

RULE X. 

Adjectival, Participial, and Absolute Phrases. 

Adjectival, participial, and absolute phrases are each sepa- 
rated by a comma from the remainder of the sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Awkward in his person, James was ill qualified to command respect. 

2. Having approved of the plan, the king put it into execution. 

3. Peace of mind being secured, we may smile at misfortune. 

4. To speak candidly, I do not understand the subject. 

5. Generally speaking, the conduct of that man is honorable. 

REMARKS. 

* a. The first two examples show the punctuation of adjectival and 
participial phrases, each being separated by a comma from the clause 
which follows, and with which it is associated. The last three sever- 
ally exhibit that of phrases containing the nominative, infinitive, and 
participle absolute ; so called because they are grammatically inde- 
pendent of the rest of the sentence in which they occur. 

b. The nominative absolute, when used pleonastically, is divided by 
a comma from what follows ; as, " The captain, I hope he will not 
act thus." — " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 

c. A nominative, though followed by a participle, is not absolute 
or independent if it be the subject of a verb. In this construction, a 
comma should be inserted both before and after the participial phrase ; 
as, " He, being dead, yet speaketh." 

d. All the phrases referred to, when intermediately used, are 
enclosed by commas ; as, " James, awkward in his person, was ill 
qualified to command respect." (See p. 34.) 



ORAL EXERCISES.* 

Recite the tenth Rule, and show its application to the folloioing sentences : — 

Shame being lost, all virtue is lost. — He being dead, we shall live. 

Speaking in round numbers, he made fifty thousand dollars. 

Crowded in filth, the poor cease to respect one another. 

To confess the truth, I was greatly to blame for my indiscretion. 

We being exceedingly tossed, they lightened the ship. 

Home Tooke having taken orders, he was refused admission to the bar. 

His father being dead, the prince succeeded to the throne. 

* To the Teacher. — The inelegances which occur in some of the exercises, it 
would be well for the teacher, in passing, to point out to his class. Such sentences 
we quote not as models of composition, but merely because they are required fully to 
exemplify the rules and the remarks. 



PARTICIPIAL AND ABSOLUTE PHRASES. 39 



How do the Remarks (p. 38) apply to the punctuation of these sentences f - 

Timothy Taylor, may he always thus act and speak ! 

We, being exceedingly tossed, lightened the ship. 

The prince, his father being dead, succeeded to the throne. 

This is, to say nothing worse, highly reprehensible. 

His conduct, generally speaking, is highly honorable. 

Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst. 



EXEKCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let the following sentences be pointed according to Rule X. or the Remarks : — 

Full of desire to answer all demands the truly benevolent do not 
think it troublesome to aid the cause of the wretched. 

There are to confess the truth few who are fully qualified for the 
high office of governing their fellows. (Remark d.) 

Employed in little things an elevated genius appears like the sun 
in his evening declination. 

Being produced by nature ores are called native or natural com- 
pounds. 

Home Tooke having taken orders was refused admission to the 
bar. (Remark c.) 

To make any happiness sincere it is necessary that we believe it to 
be lasting. 

Having the inward life men cannot conceal it ; having divine trea- 
sures they will not hoard them. 

A state of ease is generally speaking more attainable than a state 
of pleasure. (Remark d.) 

To take some men at their word you would suppose they believed 
that only one class in society was entitled to consideration. 

Virtue being abandoned we become terrified with both imaginary 
and real evils. 

Physicians the disease once discovered think the cure half wrought. 
(Remark d.) 

Surpassing the boast of the too-confident Roman Napoleon but 
stamped on the earth, and a creation of enchantment arose. 

Redeeming your time from dangerous waste seek to fill it with 
employments which you may review with satisfaction. 

Those who are truly my friends let them come to my assistance. 
(Remark 6.) 

To supply this deficiency the Creator endowed him with nobler 
qualities of intellect. 

Overwhelmed with shame and remorse the soul feels itself shut out 
from heaven. 

There is no single period of history, which all things being taken 
into consideration will allow us to be indifferent to the progress of 
mankind. (Remark d) 



40 THE COMMA. 

RULE XL 

Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases. 

Adverbs or adverbial phrases, when used as connectives, or 
when they modify not single words, but clauses or sentences, 
are each followed by a comma ; and, if used intermediately,* 
they admit a comma before as well as after them. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Why. these are testimonies of what the unfriended may do- 

2. I proceed, thirdly, to point out the proper state of our temper. 

3. On the other hand, let not the imagination be ungovernable. 

4. Punctuality is, no doubt, a quality of high importance. 

5. The most vigorous thinkers and writers are, in fact, self-taught. 

KEMAKKS. 

a. The following words, with others of a similar kind, are pointed 
in accordance with the rule : " Again, further, moreover, once more, 
as yet, yea, nay, why, well, first, secondly, finally, accordingly, conse- 
quently, unquestionably, indisputably, namely, at present, in truth, in 
short, in fine, in general, in particular, in the mean time, in the next 
place, in all probability, of late, of course, above all, nevertheless, 
doubtless, without doubt, true (used for indeed), that is (for namely), 
on the one hand, on the contrary, for the most part, now and then." 

b. When any of the adverbs or adverbial phrases in the preceding 
list, or others of a like character, are used to qualify single words, the 
commas should be omitted ; as, " The lecture was again delivered." 

c. Besides the adverbs and adverbial expressions which qualify 
single words, many of those relating to a whole clause or sentence 
are sometimes written and printed without commas ; as, " He was 
formerly a wealthy citizen." The omission of the point is recom- 
mended wherever the adverb readily coalesces with the context. 

d. If, however, there is any harshness in the construction, the ad- 
verbial word or expression may be set off by commas ; as, " Poverty, 
perhaps, has been the most fertile source of literary crimes." 

e. The insertion or the omission of commas in respect to such 
words as hence, also, here, there, seems, in general practice, to be a 
matter of taste or caprice. But, except when required by peculiar 
reasons, the points are better omitted. 

f. When two intermediate adverbs, not qualifying any particular 
word, come together, that which coalesces least with the other portions 

* To the Teacher. — It may be necessary to ask the learner to define the term 
11 intermediate." (See p. 4, Definition IX.) 






ADVERBS AND ADVERBIAL PHRASES. 41 

of the sentence should alone have a comma both before and after it ; 
as, " There were, surety, always pretenders in science." 

g-* Many words ranked as adverbs are sometimes employed con- 
junctively, and require a different treatment in their punctuation. 
However, now, then, too, indeed, are, when used as conjunctions, 
divided by commas from the context ; but when as adverbs, qualifying 
the words with which they are associated, the separation should not be 
made. This distinction will be seen from the following examples : — 

1. However. — We must, however, pay some deference to the opinions of the wise, 
however much they are contrary to our own. 

2. Now. — I have now shown the consistency of my principles ; and, now, what is 
the fair and obvious conclusion ? 

3. Then. — On these facts, then, I then rested my argument, and afterwards made 
a few general observations on the subject. 

4. Too. — I found, too, a theatre at Alexandria, and another at Cairo ; but he who 
would enjoy the representations must not be too particular. 

5. Indeed. — The young man was indeed culpable in that act, though, indeed, he 
conducted himself very well in other respects.* 

When placed at the end of a sentence or a clause, the conjunction too 
must not be separated from the context by a comma. 

li. The particle therefore, which is used both as an adverb and a 
conjunction, may be set off by commas when it occurs intermediately, 
or obstructs the flow of the composition, and left unpointed when it 
coalesces with the other parts of the sentence ; as, " Music has charms, 
and therefore ought to be admired : if, therefore, you have an oppor- 
tunity of learning that delightful art, study it with avidity." 

i. As a preposition, besides should not be pointed; but, as an 
adverb or a conjunction, it takes a comma after, and, if occurring 
intermediately, also one before it ; as, " Besides him, there was an- 
other man who acted in the same manner : there were present, besides, 
several ladies, who seemed to give their approbation." The same 
remark is applicable to the word notwithstanding. 
_ j. Used adverbially, yesterday, to-day, &c, are, like the adverbs of 
time, now, then (Remark g), not separated by points from the words 
with which they are connected ; as, " John went yesterday to Bath." 

Jc. All adverbial words or phrases, if followed by an intermediate 
expression, must, according to p. 34, have a comma after them ; but, 
if finishing a sentence or a clause, they should have that point which 
is required by their position. 

I. When an adverbial word or phrase comes between two phrases 
or clauses, it must be separated by a comma only from that expression 
which it does not qualify ; as, " He was saved, for a time at least, 
from a relapse." 



* To the Teacher. — The pupil should be made aware, that the repetition, in a 
single sentence, of the same word in different senses, is not held up for his imitation ; 
but that it is adopted here merely to illustrate more clearly the use of the comma 
than could be done by giving examples less liable to critical objection. 

4 * 



42 THE COMMA. 

ORAL EXERCISES. 

Show how the punctuation in these sentences corresponds to Rule XL : — 

Such, undoubtedly, is the characteristic of genuine virtue. 
On the contrary, I believe that truth is the great inspirer. 
There is, now and then, a youth of more than youthful powers. 
He made the most, mentally, of whatevercame in his way. 
Undoubtedly, the statement he has made is not correct. _ 
There are many ends, doubtless, for which each thing exists. 
But, lastly, let us examine the truth of these arguments. 
In fact, modern civilization is a corrupted Christianity. 
Such, in general, is the humiliating aspect of the tomb. 
Accordingly, the chronicles of the middle ages teem with crimes. 
The national life, in short, is to a certain extent diseased. 
Well, proceed with the speech which you have so well begun. 



According to Remarks (pp. 40-1), assign reasons for the punctuation of the 
adverbial or conjunctive words and phrases which occur in the following 
sentences, or for the omission of commas: — 

Let us further consider the arguments on this subject. 

How inconceivably thin and tender are the threads of a spider ! 

Well, I call conversation the sweet interchange of thought. 

I do not well know why I should think of it in any other respect. 

He first went to New York, and afterwards to Philadelphia. 

Attend, first, to the literal sense ; and, secondly, to the metaphorical. 

Probably there are few who ever accomplish as much as they expected. 

Few, probably, ever accomplish as much as they expected. 

Why do you trust your character to be evolved by accident ? 

If I cannot perform my promise, why, 1 will regret having made it. 

Here also is the distinction between faith and mere assent. 

I am inclined, however, to believe this to be a mistaken opinion. 

However great Napoleon was as a general, he was not a good man. 

Now, feudalism is the embodiment of satanic pride. 

Now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

It is, then, a mark of wisdom to live virtuously and devoutly. 

Have not you, too, gone about the earth like an evil genius ? 

We look at all things too exclusively from our own point of view. 

True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in mere speech. 

Professors Bentley and Porson were scholars indeed. 

A certain degree of moral culture, therefore, must be presupposed. 

A certain degree of moral culture must therefore be presupposed. 

Besides this, it may be of the greatest advantage to you in business. 

It may, besides, be of the greatest advantage to you in business. 

They, notwithstanding, had much love to spare. 

A man may be rich, notwithstanding pecuniary losses. 

We shall perhaps leave the city to-morrow morning. 



ADVERBS AND ADVERBIAL PHRASES. 43 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert commas only where required by Rule XL and Remarks (pp. 40-1) : — 

Hence the organs of sense are probably in a state of the greatest 
sensibility in an early period of life. (Remarks e and c.) 

The children of our cottagers too appear to derive peculiar pleasure 
from the soft breath of spring. (Remark g 4.) 

Characters endowed with great excellences will unfortunately often 
stand in need of great allowances. (Remark /.) 

However much he was persecuted, he loved his persecutors not the 
less. (Remark g 1.) 

The happiness of the dead however is affected by none of these 
considerations. (Remark g 1.) 

First men of uncommon moral endowments may be expected to 
be men of uncommon intellectual powers. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

If therefore you find that you have a hasty temper, watch it nar- 
rowly. (Remark Ji.) 

The Greeks were great reasoners ; and their language accordingly 
abounds in connectives. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

This was the object to which the meeting first directed its attention. 
(Remark b.) 

Having now removed the objections made to our conduct, I shall 
take up very little more of your lordships' time. (Remarks b, g 2.) 

There was great scarcity of corn, and consequently dearth of all 
other victuals. (Rule, and Remarks a, d.) 

Sooner or later insulted virtue avenges itself on states, as well as 
on private men. (Rule.) 

Without being rash on the one hand or fearful on the other we 
shall find all things working together for good. (Remark I.) 

Christ stands immeasurably in advance of the moral attainments 
of the world. (Remark 6.) 

And hence perhaps it is that Solomon calls the fear of the Lord 
the beginning of wisdom. (Remark f.) 

But yesterday the word of Csesar might have stood against the 
world. (Remark j.) 

Sometimes doubts and apprehensions will haunt the mind in its 
searchings for truth. (Rule.) 

But on the other hand do not suppose that poverty is altogether a 
waste and howling wilderness. (Rule, and Remark c.) 

There is undoubtedly very often more happiness in the hut than in 
the palace. (Rule, and Remark f.) 

Nature has indeed given us a soil which yields bounteously to the 
hand of industry. But what are lands, &c. (Remark g 5.) 
. Society must of course receive beauty into its character and feel- 
ing. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

Let us contemplate then this connection, which binds the prosperity 
of others to our own. (Remark g 3.) 



44 THE COMMA. 

RULE xn. 

Phrases at the End of Sentences or Clauses. 

§ I. When a phrase beginning with a preposition, an adverb, 
or a conjunction, relates to or modifies a preceding portion of 
the sentence, a comma is unnecessary if the parts are closely 
connected in sense. 

§ II. But the point must be inserted when its omission 
would occasion ambiguity, or when the phrase begins with a 
word that obstructs the connection subsisting between the 
different portions of the sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

§ I. 

1. For that agency he applied without a recommendation. 

2. Cultivate your intellectual powers by habits of study and reflection. 

3. The idea is very happily applied under one of its forms. 

§ II. 

1. He applied for that agency, without a recommendation. 

2. Cultivate your intellectual powers, especially by habits of study, &c. 

3. The idea is very happily applied, at least under one of its forms. 

REMARKS. 

a. In the first three examples, the phrases beginning with the pre- 
positions " without," " by," " under, " are closely connected with both 
portions of the sentence" in which they severally occur, and therefore 
should not be preceded by a comma. 

5. If, in the first example of the second class, the comma were 
omitted before the preposition " without," the sentence might be 
wrongly understood to mean, that a person applied for an agency, 
without its having any recommendation in its favor. Of the next ex- 
ample, if written without the comma before the adverb " especially," 
the meaning might be, that, by habits of study and reflection, you 
should cultivate particularly your intellectual powers, that is, in pre- 
ference to others ; but this is not the sense. In both of these sentences, 
the insertion of the comma, as above, leads obviously to the true sig- 
nification. In the last example, the sense is brought out more clearly 
by inserting a comma before the modifying words " at least," because 
they belong rather to the phrase than to the whole clause, and obstruct 
the connection between " applied " and " under one of its forms." 

c. If a final phrase conveys an additional thought, or is preceded 
by another phrase with which it does not readily unite, the comma 






FINAL PHRASES. 45 

should be inserted ; as, " A strong idea of religion generally prevailed, 
even among the most uncultivated savages." — " The ode was fre- 
quently sung at his request, either in the church or at some occasional 
meeting of the choir." 

d. A phrase, at the end of a clause or sentence, of an antithetical 
character, is preceded by a comma ; as, " Man's true destination is 
not perfection, but the unceasing perfecting of his nature." (See 
Rule V., p. 22.) 

e. No point is required before a final phrase beginning with but, in 
the sense of except ; as, " None are poor but the mean in mind." 

f. When a final phrase begins with the words in order before a 
verb in the infinitive mood, or with the infinitive denoting in order to, 
it should not be preceded by a comma ; as, " I sent the boy in order 
to ascertain the fact." — " We do not pray to God to instruct him." 
Unless the final phrase is removed by several words from the leading 
one in the preceding portion of the sentence ; as, " Our minds must 
go out into the infinite and immortal regions, to find sufficiency and 
satisfaction for the present hour." 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

State why, in conformity with Rule XII., commas are used in some of these 
sentences, and omitted in others : — 

He was a man of extraordinary powers, both of mind and body. 

The fertile earth is fragrant after soft showers. 

Take heed not to place thyself in the power of temptation. 

View the path you are entering on, with an enlightened mind.* 

The grandeur of Rome has vanished like a spectre in the night. 

Poisons are sweet in the moral world, as truly as in the natural. 

Do thy best to pluck this crawling serpent from my breast. 

The soul becomes great by the habitual contemplation of great objects. 

Poverty of mind is often concealed under the garb of splendor. 

Repentance is not a single act, but a habit of virtue. 

Truth is not hidden from us by an impenetrable veil. 

All great things are so, only by the assemblage of small things. 

Call off the thoughts when running upon disagreeable objects. 

Keep an inventory of your friends, rather than of your goods. 

* To the Teacher. — It will be noticed that this example cannot be left unpointed, 
■without either producing ambiguity, or conveying a sense different from that which 
was intended to be conveyed. It is our province here to have to do with sentences 
only as they are written ; but, in learning to combine the functions of both composer 
and punctuist, the pupil should be taught to reconstruct all such sentences ; as, in 
respect to the present one, " View, with an enlightened mind, the path on which you 
are entering." In this case, however, the sentence would be brought under the 
operation of Rule VIII., p. 34. 



46 THE COMMA. 

Mention why, in accordance with Remarfo (pp. 44-5), commas are inserted or 
omitted in the following sentences : — 

He was a Columbus in a brave heart, if not in achievement. 

Virtue is not the creature of will, but necessary and immutable. 

Our best works are fractions, not complete and rounded unities. 

Nothing remained but to throw himself on the mercy of Heaven. 

He left the room to see whether all was safe. 

Cultivate the art of reading, in order to read well. 

Let me find a charter in your voice } to assist my simpleness* 



EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

In agreement with Rule XII. and the Remarks, let commas be inserted or 
omitted in the following sentences : — 

A year is much in human life particularly to the very young and 
very old. (Rule, § n.) 

The first indications of genius disclose themselves at a very early 
period. (Rule, § I.) 

Follow the perfections of your enemies rather than the errors of 
your friends. (Rule, § II. ; and Remark d.) 

Christianity represents physical evil as the direct appointment of 
God's love. . (Rule, § i.) 

The active mind of man seldom or never rests satisfied with its 
present condition how prosperous soever. (Rule, § n.) 

The saint owes much of the grace and elegance of his spirit to the 
influences of sorrow in some form. (Rule, § I.) 

We cannot bid farewell to so large a portion of human history 
without deep and earnest thought. (Rule, § n.) 

Herbert always attracted friends and strangers by the elegance and 
benignity of his manners. (Rule. § i.) 

Law should not be the rich man's luxury but the poor man's re- 
medy. (Rule, § II. ; and Remark d.) 

Let your affections be cultivated with ardor and purity through all 
the successive periods of life. (Rule, § I.) 

Shake not the credit of others in endeavoring to establish your 
own. (Rule, § II.) 

Half of what passes among men for talent is nothing but strong 
health. (Rule, § I. ; and Remark e.) 

Who can look on this scene without an increase of love and reve- 
rence and trust ? (Rule, § II.) 

The soul is nursed for heaven by the discipline of a sacred sorrow. 
(Rule, § I.) 

Some men put on the appearance of virtue in order to succeed in 
their nefarious enterprises. (Rule, § II. ; Remark f, second portion.) 

Let us not think of the departed as looking on us with earthly, 
partial affections. (Rule, § I.) 



INVERTED EXPRESSIONS. 47 

RULE XIII. 

Inverted or Transposed Expressions. 

Many phrases which, in their natural or usual order, do not 
require to be punctuated, are, when inverted, set off by a 
comma from the rest of the sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. By Cowley, the philosopher Hobbes is compared to Columbus. 

2. To the wise and good, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment. 

3. Of all our senses, sight is the most perfect and delightful. 

4. In perusing the works of enlightened men, we ought to think much. 

REMARKS. 

a. The natural or usual order of words in English composition, if 
adopted in the above sentences, would run as follows : " The philo- 
sopher Hobbes is compared by Cowley to Columbus." — " Old age 
presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment to the wise and good." — 
" Sight is the most perfect and delightful of all our senses." — " We 
ought to think much in perusing the works of enlightened men." 
It will be seen, that the phrases which have been punctuated in the 
examples, are, when put in the usual order, written without commas. 

5. In the inverted or rhetorical style in which these sentences are 
exemplified under the rule, it is obvious, that, if the comma were* 
omitted, we could not read or understand them, without a greater 
exercise of the judgment than is required when that point is. inserted 
after each transposed phrase. 

c. But the rule, as commonly laid down by grammarians, is by no 
means universal in its application. The mere circumstance of the 
transposition of a word or phrase is not a sufficient reason for intro- 
ducing a comma, as may readily be seen by inspecting either a single 
page of an author who adopts this style, or a few lines in any of the 
poets ; and, indeed, the punctuating of all inversions would, in num- 
berless instances, violate both perspicuity and good taste. Actual 
usage, too, is so discordant, that, in many cases, it would seem to be 
a matter of mere choice whether an inverted phrase should have a 
comma or not. By attention, however, to the various modes in which 
the sentences under notice are formed, most of the practical difficul- 
ties would be overcome. 

d. Thus the inverted portions of a sentence, when they are both 
clauses, or are equivalent to clauses, should be separated by a comma ; 
as, " That interesting and valuable history which you lent him, he 
did not read." — " In believing attainment impossible, you will 
make it so ; " that is, " If you believe," &c. 



48 THE COMMA. 

e. When inverted expressions severally end and begin with words 
of the same part of speech,* they are, in general, more easily under- 
stood if distinguished by an intervening comma ; as, " Of the varie- 
gated mountain, nought shall remain unchanged." 

f So, also, inverted phrases, if they severally end and begin with 
an adjective and a noun, with a noun and an adjective,* or with two 
adjectives; as, "To each, honor is given." — " To egotists and 
pedants, sensible men have a strong antipathy." — " By these, vari- 
ous opinions may be held." 

g. On the other hand, the comma is usually omitted under the 

following circumstances : — 

1. When the first inverted portion contains a noun governed by a 
verb in the last part of the sentence ; as, " That interesting and valu- 
able history he did not read." — " Him and Ms actions you will 
very probably imitate" 

2. When the second portion of the sentence commences with a 
verb, whether principal or auxiliary, before its nominative ; as, " At 
the bottom of the garden ran a little rivulet." — " Of the variegated 
mountain shall nought remain unchanged." 

3. When a preposition is removed from the word to which it be- 
longs, and placed at the beginning of the inverted phrase ; as, " With 
that portion of the work he was the least satisfied ; " instead of, " He 
was the least satisfied loith that portion of the work." — " Of all 
truly noble feelings they were quite unsusceptible." 

4. When the first of the inverted portions of a sentence begins 
with the words it is, or only ; as, " It is in the sphere of intellect alone 
that men are becoming truly civilized." — " Only on a few slight oc- 
casions they felt disposed to be merciful." 

5. When, though a distinct articulation may require a slight pause, 
an inverted phrase can be read in close connection with what follows 
it, without affecting the import of the sentence; as, "In infancy the 
mind is peculiarly ductile." — " To each the soul of each how dear ! " 
— " By these swords we acquired our liberties." 

6. When an expression precedes an inverted phrase which is con- 
nected more closely with the latter portion of the sentence than with 
the former ; as, " However opposite may be the sides from which we 
start at the foot of the mountain, in approaching its summit we ap- 
proach one another." If, however, the first part of the sentence were 
omitted, Remark d would hold good ; as, " In approaching the sum- 
mit of a mountain, we approach one another." 

* To the Teacher. — Where inversions often occur, as in poetry, and the insertion 
of a comma between two nouns, or between a noun and an adjective, would create too 
many minute subdivisions, the pupil may be taught to dispense with its use. — Under 
the term ' : adjective," we include the pronominal adjectives. 



INVERTED EXPRESSIONS. 49 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Why, according to Rule XIII. and Remarks (]op. 47-8), are commas inserted 
or omitted between the transposed expressions in these sentences f — 

To most, religion is a mere tradition or a momentary feeling. 

In fearless freedom he arose. — By vicious examples be not misled. 

Of all bad habits, that of idleness is the most incorrigible. 

In the British Museum is the original work of Copernicus. 

Whom ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. 

Only by degrees we turn our thoughts inwardly on ourselves. 

Without much thought, books cannot be profitably read. 

Against great force of reasoning it is in vain to contend. 

By the faults or errors of others, wise men correct their own. 

In early years the habits of industry are most easily acquired. 

At his control, despair and anguish fled the struggling soul. 

Through her rags do the winds of the winter blow bleak. 

To study the science of spirit, I must enter my own soul. 

All the appearances of nature I was careful to study. 

Like a spectre in the night, the grandeur of Rome is vanished. 

It is only by devotion to liberal pursuits that we can be truly liberal. 

Greater exploits than force, counsel and wisdom achieve. 

To thee I pour my prayer. — In power and wealth exult no more. 

What is the right path, few men take the trouble of inquiring. 

This great error I wish to expose. — It is a place he aspires to hold. 

With the many, life is one round of never-ceasing toil. 

For want of this, genius has been a scourge to the world. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 



Point the following sentences, or leave them unpointed, in accordance, with the 
thirteenth Rule and the Remarks thereon; — 

In the production and preservation of order all men recognize 
something that is sacred. (Rule.) 

From the right exercise of our intellectual powers arises one of the 
chief sources of our happiness. (Remark g 2 or 3.) 

Through life truth ought to be one of the great objects of human 
pursuit. (Rule, and Remark e.) 

In the solemn silence of the mind are formed those great resolu- 
tions which decide the fate of men. (Remark g 2.) 

Education is at home a friend, abroad an introduction, in solitude 
a solace, in society an ornament. (Remark g 5.) 

Of all our virtuous emotions those of kind regard are the most 
readily imitated. (Rule.) 

In the attainment of all excellence in the arts patronage and genius 
should go hand in hand. (Rule, and Remark e.) 

Before giving way to anger try to find a reason for not being angry. 
(Rule, and Remark d.) 

5 



50 THE COMMA. 

In the acuteness of the external senses some of the inferior animals 
excel our species. (Rule, and Remark f.) 

Over matchless talents probity should throw its brightest lustre. 
(Rule, and Remark e.) 

It is from the spirit's own pearl that the good embellish their cha- 
racter. (Remark g 4.) 

In every material action of your life consider well its probable 
result. (Rule.) 

Only in the light of a sublime faith can the history of our race be 
read without despondency. (Remarks g 2 or 4.) 

In the ruffled and angry hour we view every appearance through 
a false medium. (Rule.) 

In these hours of golden leisure my chief haunt is the banks of a 
small stream. (Rule, and Remark f.) 

This view of religion I propose to make the subject of some free 
discussion. (Remark g 1.) 

It is through moral and spiritual power that the rivers of thought 
and feeling are to be turned. (Remark #4.) 

On feelings allied to these priestcraft and sorcery have often fas- 
tened themselves. (Rule, and Remark f.) 

From the little root of a few letters science has spread its branches 
over all nature, and raised its head to the heavens. (Rule, and Rem. e.) 

In order to improve the mind we ought less to learn than to con- 
template. (Rule, and last portion of Remark d.) 

With what you have be satisfied. — All you hear believe not. 
(Rule, and first of Remark d.) 

In the hurry and eagerness of selfish competition we underrate the 
silent influence of moral character. (Rule.) 

When others are asleep, in its own contemplations the soul finds 
a source of solace and pleasure. (Remark g 6.) 

In not learning your business perfectly you cannot give satisfaction 
to your employer. (Rule, and last of Remark d.) 

To every character its fitting position and appropriate function have 
been assigned. (Remark g 3.) 

It is to the unaccountable oblivion of our mortality that the world 
owes all its fascination. (Remark e 4.) 

Of all the great men whom Germany has produced Luther has the 
most German character. (Rule.) 

By doing nothing we learn to do ill. — To command any subject 
adequately we must stand above it. (Rule, and last of Remark d.) 

Through the dim veil of the visible and 'perishing man catches a 
glimpse of the vast significance of the unseen and the eternal. (Rule, 
and Remark f.) 

Into every human being has God breathed an immortal soul. — 
Into every human being God has breathed an immortal soul. (Re- 
marks g 2 and f.) 






DEPENDENT CLAUSES. 51 

RULE XIV. 

One Clause Depending on Another. 

Two clauses, one depending on the other, are separated by 
a comma.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. If you would be revenged on your enemies, let your life be blameless. 

2. Wealth is of no real use, except it be well employed. 

3. Unless it blossoms in the spring, the tree will not bear fruit in autumn. 

4. Till we can go alone, we must lean on the hand of a guide. 

5. Fill thy heart with goodness, and thou wilt find that the world is full of 

good. 

REMARKS. 

a. One of the dependent clauses is commonly distinguished by its 
beginning with a particle expressive of condition, admission, purpose, 
causation, time, or place. But such sentences are not necessarily thus 
constructed, as is shown in the fifth example, the clauses of which 
depend, one on the other, not in form, but in sense ; being equivalent 
to — "If thou fill thy heart with goodness, thou wilt find," &c. 

b. A phrase having the import of a conditional clause, and put at 
the beginning of the sentence, is also distinguished by a comma ; as, 
" To be good, you must do good ; " that is, " That you may be good, 
you must do good." (See p. 47, last portion of d.) 

c. When, in a sentence relating to time, place, or manner, the 
clause beginning with an adverb is put last, and is closely connected 
in sense with what precedes it, the comma should not be inserted ; 
as, " I love my kind where'er I roam." — " You will reap as you 
sow." Clauses like these may be regarded as akin to the restrictive 
relative. (See Rule VII., § il, p. 29.) 

d. But if the adverbs when, where, &c, have only a faint reference 
to time or place, or introduce an additional idea, they should be pre- 
ceded by a comma ; as, " Refrain not to speak, when by speaking you 
may be useful to others." — " Andrew sailed for California, where he 
does a flourishing business." 

e. When the conjunctions if and because are used to bind closely 
together the two clauses between which they are severally placed, 

* To the Teacher. — Notwithstanding the simplicity of this rule, and the ease 
with which in a great majority of instances it may be applied, cases are often found 
in books where the principle is neglected. All, however, that is necessary to bring 
it into operation may be effected by the teacher's making his pupils fully acquainted 
with the nature of a clause, and how one clause is said to be dependent on another. 
(See Definition V., p. 3.) 



52 THE COMMA. 

the comma is unnecessary ; as, " Tell Mm if you will go." — " Sin 
is not less dangerous because men are hardened by it." 

f. No point should be introduced between two clauses united by 
the phrase in order that, or by the conjunction that, when it has the 
same import, if it is closely connected with the preceding verb ; as, 
"The man travelled in order that he might regain his strength." 
But the comma must be inserted if the conjunction or the phrase is 
separated at some distance from the verb ; as, " Let us consider the 
following propositions, that we may fully understand the subject." 



ORAL. EXERCISES. 

Show how Rule XIV. (p. 51) is applicable to the punctuation of the sentences 
that follow : — 

The good which men do is not lost, though it is often disregarded. 

It were no virtue to bear calamities, if we did not feel them. 

Where the heart is well guarded, temptations cannot enter. 

Though a civilization may die, it leaves imperishable records. 

Wherever we are, we are not forgotten by a kind Providence. 

Were patrons more disinterested, ingratitude would be more rare. 

Since none enjoy all blessings, be content with a few. 

Go where a man may, home is the centre to which his heart turns. 

As we grow older, life becomes dim in the distance. 

We obey the laws of society, because they are the laws of virtue. 

Dare to be good, whatever evil may surround you. 

If their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free. 

When beggars die, there are no comets seen. 

Make up your mind to do a thing, and you will do it. 

Every thing is beautiful, if left where nature meant it to be.' 

Where the whole is one dark blot of shade, there can be no picture. 



How do the Remarks under the fourteenth Rule apply to the punctuation of the 
following sentences f — 

Drop upon Fox's grave the tear, 'twill trickle to his rival's bier. 
By playing with a fool at home, he'll play with you abroad. 
I will see you when you arrive. — I will go whither thou goest. 
He went away as soon as I came. — Use time as if you knew its value. 
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 
Quietness and peace flourish where justice and reason govern. 
Let us live while we live. — Fear not, while acting justly. 
He went to the city of Manchester, where he remained for a year. 
The age of miracles is past, while that of prejudice remains. 
Sense shines with the greatest lustre, when it is set in humanity. 
I fled because I was afraid. — You shall be informed if it is so. 
Live well that you may die well. — We go that we may be in time. 
Be studious and diligent, in order that you may become learned. 



DEPENDENT CLAUSES. 53 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Point, or leave unpointed, the following sentences, according to the principles 
laid down in the fourteenth Rule and the Remarks: — 

When the great man is laid in his grave lies of malice are apt to 
give way to lies of adulation. 

Decide not by authoritative rules when they are inconsistent with 
reason. (Rule, and Remark d.) 

A man may comfort himself for the wrinkles in his face provided 
his heart be fortified with virtue. 

We cannot turn in any direction where the Creator's love does not 
smile around us. (Remark c.) 

Unless he put a bridle on his tongue the babbler will soon shut 
himself out from all society. 

Have respect for yourself that others may not disrespect you. 
(Rule, and last sentence of Remark f.) 

We should be ashamed of many of our actions were the world 
acquainted with our motives. 

Breathe into men a fervent purpose and you awaken powers before 
unknown. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

Where true religion has prevented one crime false religions have 
afforded a pretext for a thousand. 

Remember your own feelings in order that you may judge of the 
feelings of others. (Rule, and last sentence of Remark f.) 



Some people endeavor to divert their thoughts lest their minds 
should reproach them. 

We were present when General Lafayette embarked at Havre for 
New York. (Remark c.) 

If there be nothing celestial without us it is only because all is 
earthly within. 

Let all dispose their hours till midnight when again we pray your 
presence. (Remark d.) 

In how small a compass lie all the elements of man's truest happi- 
ness if society were only conducted in a rational spirit ! 

Suppress the first desires of evil as soon as they arise, and extin- 
guish the spark before it spreads. (Remark c.) 

There never is true eloquence except when great principles and 
sentiments have entered into the substance of the soul. 

We live that we may die. — Attend that you may receive instruc- 
tion. (Remark f, first sentence.) 

If women fulfilled truly their divine errand there would be no need 
of reforming societies. 

We compare the divine Mind with ours that we may have some- 
thing Avithin the grasp of our reason to dwell upon. (Remark f.) 

We weep over the dead because they have no life, and over the 
living because they have no perfection. (Remark e.) 



54 THE COMMA. 

RULE XV. 

Correlative Words, Phrases, and Clauses. 

§ I. Two correlative expressions, united by the conjunc- 
tion as or than, are written without a point between them. 

§ II. But, when united by any other word than these con- 
junctions, the correlative expressions are distinguished by a 
comma. 

EXAMPLES. 

§i. 

1. Men are never | so easily deceived || as when they plot to deceive others. 

2. A child in the humblest walks of life is | as richly gifted l| as in the highest. 

3. Only | such repentance is beneficial || as makes us wiser and better. 

4. Do not spend | more time in bed j| than is required for sleep. 

§ II. 

1. But | though learned and methodical, || yet the teacher was not a pedant. 

2. A great man will | neither trample on a worm, || nor cringe before a king. 

3. All know that | as virtue is its own reward, || so vice is its own punishment. 

4. Yes 3 | the more we see of a truly good man, || the better we love him. 

REMARKS. 

a. To indicate the true character of the sentences just quoted, we 
have put two perpendicular lines between each pair of correlative 
expressions, and a single line before the first expression, in each 
example. It will be seen, that the phrases or clauses beginning seve- 
rally with the correlative words, " so — as," " as — as," " such — as," 
" more — than," which occur in the first class of examples, have a 
stronger attraction to each other than those commencing with the 
correlatives " though — yet," " neither — nor," " as — so," " the more — 
the better," in- the second ; and that, on this account, the expressions 
under the former division are properly written without commas, and 
those under the latter with them. 

0. (1) When the last of the correlative words requires a comma 
after it; (2) when vagueness or ambiguity would be occasioned by 
the omission of a point between the corresponding expressions; or 
(3) when the correlatives are separated by two or more phrases, — 
the sense is brought out more clearly by the insertion of a comma 
before the conjunction as or than; as, — 

1. The mind that boasts of its rich endowments is so limited and cramped, as, in 
comparison with what it might enjoy, to be utterly poor and naked. 

2. Greater is he that prophesieth, than he that speaketh with tongues. 

3. We can no more preserve a stationary attitude | in the moral world, than we 
can refuse to accompany the physical earth in its rotation. 






CORRELATIVE EXPRESSIONS. 55 

C As an exception to the second division of the rule, it may be 
remarked, that the comma is better omitted between clauses contain- 
ing the correlative words so — that, or such — that, when they are 
short, and closely connected ; as, " John was so much injured that he 
could not walk." — " The earthquake produced such a shock that it 
awoke us all." 

d. Expressions beginning with both — and, whether — or, either — 
or, neither — nor, are usually left unpointed when they are not 
clauses, but phrases ; as, " We cannot trace either their causes or 
their effects." 



ORAL, EXERCISES.* 

Agreeably to Rule XV., state %ohy some of the folloioing sentences are printed 
with, and others without, the comma : — 

So frowned the mighty combatants, that hell grew darker at the sight. 

When pride cometh, then cometh shame. — She is as good as he. 

No one is so much alone in the world as a denier of God. 

As we do to others, so shall it be done unto us. 

Man gains wider dominion by his intellect than by his right arm. 

Wherever man is, there are the elements of poetry. 

Every one has as much vanity as he is deficient in understanding. 

If you know that your object is good, then without hesitation seek it. 

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. 

Though Truth is fearless and absolute, yet she is meek and modest. 

The more industrious you are, the sooner will you learn a trade. 

He governed more by a regard to duty than by a prospect of gain. 

Such as the tree is, such will be the fruit. 

We can discover nothing so sublime as the spirit of self-sacrifice. 

The better a proverb is, the more trite it generally becomes. 



Show how the preceding Remarks will apply to the punctuation of correlative 
clauses and phrases in the following sentences : — 

It would have been better for you not to know the truth, than, 
after you have known it, to shun its counsels. 

Our sympathy is always awakened more by hearing the speaker, 
than by reading his works in our closet. 

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox, and 
haired therewith. 

Virtue is so amiable that even the vicious admire it. — Virtue is 
neither a phantom nor a vain vision. 

Whether right or wrong, I am held responsible. — Whether my 
gift be liberal or niggardly is not the question. 

* To the Teacher. — Before commencing these Exercises, the teacher may ask 
the pupil a few questions as to the nature and. uses of correlative words or expres- 
sions. (See Definition X., p. 5.) 



56 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Lei these sentences be punctuated or not, agreeably to the fifteenth Rule and 
the Bemarks (pp. 54-5) : — 

We are so afraid of each other's doctrines that we cannot cure 
each other's sins. (Rule, § n.) 

My engagements are of such a character as will deprive me of 
partaking the festivities of the day. (Rule, § I.) 

We must not only avoid what God has forbidden but do what he 
has commanded. (Rule, § II.) 

One angel's history may be a volume of more various truth than 
all the records of our race. (Rule, § I.) 

Although men are accused for not knowing their own weakness yet 
perhaps as few know their own strength. (Rule, § n.) 

He is a better man who wisely speaks than he who talks at ran- 
dom. (Remark b 2.) 

No sublimity is so real as that which makes itself deeply felt in 
union with beauty. (Rule, § I.) 

Such is the course of nature that whoever lives long must outlive 
those whom he loves. (Rule, § II.) 

What thou forbiddest us that will we shun and abhor : what thou 
commandest us that will we love and pursue. (Rule, § II.) 

Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood as cheerily 
on the poor man's cottage as on the rich man's palace. (Rule, § I.) 



The doll-shop is as fit a place for studying character as the fashion- 
able dinner-party, the assembly, or the ball-room. (Remark b 3.) 

Better live an honest poor man than die a selfish and grasping 
millionnaire. (Rule, § I.) 

The rarer the beauty of the external scene the deeper should be 
the impression of the unseen God. (Rule, § n.) 

The evidence of things invisible can never be such as those who 
rely on purely intellectual assurance will demand. (Rule, § I.) 

The more a man speaks of himself the less he likes to hear another 
spoken of. (Rule, § n.) 

Nothing appears to us so beautiful in human experience as the 
reciprocal affection of parents and children. (Rule, § I.) 

The progress of some men is so rapid that they keep ahead of 
common sense. (Remark c.) 

Art is capable of not only imitating Nature in her graces but even 
of adorning her with graces of her own. (Rule, § II.) 

Rather do good than seem to be. — So five with men as if God 
saw you. (Rule, § I.) 

Either the mere will of the magistrate or the conscience of the 
individual must decide in the case. (Remark d.) 

I am as much known to God as if I were the single object of his 
attention. (Rule, § I.) 



EXPRESSIONS CONSTRUCTED ALIKE. 57 

RULE XVI. 

Phrases and Clauses in the same Construction. 

Two or more phrases or clauses, when in the same con- 
struction, are separated by a comma from each other, and, 
when the} r do not complete a proposition, from the remainder 
of the sentence.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. No one ought unnecessarily to wound the feelings of his neighbors, or to 

insult their religious prepossessions. 

2. Regret for the past, grief at the present, and anxiety respecting the future, 

are plagues which affect the generality of men. 

3. Beauty haunts the depths of the earth and sea, and gleams out in the 

hues of the shell and the precious stone. 

REMARKS. 

a. The first and second of these sentences exemplify the use of 
phrases in the same construction : the third exemplifies that of clauses. 
Both kinds of expressions are said to be in the same construction, 
because, in the first example, the infinitives " to wound," " to insult," 
are each governed by one and the same verb, " ought ; " because, 
in the second, the whole series of phrases forms a compound nomi- 
native to the verb " are ; " and because, in the third, the verbs 
" haunts " and " gleams," occurring respectively in the two clauses, 
have the same nominative, " beauty." In the second example, the 
co-ordinate expressions do not conclude the proposition; and there- 
fore a comma is put after the last of these, in order to point out their 
common dependence on what follows. 

b. Co-ordinate expressions,* even if they are not in the same con- 
struction, are subject to the operation of the rule ; as, " Crafty men 
contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them." 

c. When two brief phrases are formed alike, and united by either 
of the conjunctions and, or, nor, the comma is better omitted between 
them ; as, " A healthy body and a sound mind should be preserved 
as real blessings." — " The pastimes of youth have a tendency to 
invigorate the body or to expand the mind." The omission of the 
point is particularly recommended when two phrases form a compound 
intermediate expression, or belong to one ; as, " We must file a pro- 
test against the practice of destroying the birds of the garden ; for, 

* To the Teacher. — For an explanation of the terms here used, the pupil should 
be required to compare Remark a with Definitions V., VI., and VIII., pp. 3-5. 



58 THE COMMA. 

besides depriving us of the beauty oftlieir appearance and tlie music 
of their song, it lets in a flood of insects, whose numbers the birds 
were commissioned to keep down." (See p. 23, h.) 

d. If, by omitting the comma, two such phrases might be read so 
as to obscure or pervert the meaning, the point must be inserted ; as, 
" Receive blessings with thankfulness, and afflictions with resignation." 

e. When two connected phrases are different in form or in the num- 
ber of words, their relation to the context is better seen when they are 
set off by commas ; as, " Undue susceptibility, and the preponderance 
of mere feeling over thoughtfulness, may mislead us." 

f The same mode of punctuation is adopted for a word and a 
phrase, or for a series consisting partly of words and partly of phrases ; 
a comma, however, being put after the last particular, when it does 
not end the clause ; as, " Calmness, modesty, candor, forgetfulness of 
self, and love of others, are all required for the occasion." 

g. When a series consists both of words and phrases, all connected 
by one of the conjunctions and, or, nor, the comma should be omitted 
between the single words, but inserted between the phrases ; as, " Some 
men would be distinguished in their occupation or pursuit or profes- 
sion, or in the style of living, or in the dignity of office, or in the glare 
and pride and pomp of power." (See p. 16, 5.) 

h. When a series consists of phrases or clauses, united by either of 
the conjunctions just named, the particulars are separated from one 
another by a comma ; as, " Reach the goal, and gain the prize, and 
wear the crown." But, if the series is used parenthetically, the com- 
mas may be omitted ; as, " Through the soul we have direct access to 
God, and, by a trustful heart and a submissive will and a devoted 
service, may spiritually unite ourselves with him." (See p. 57,-6.) 

i. Pairs of words are regarded as phrases, and pointed in accord- 
ance with the rule ; as, " Anarchy and confusion, poverty and distress, 
follow a civil war." — " Y/hether we eat or drink, labor or sleep, we 

should be moderate." 

j. It is usual to omit the comma between the number of a house 
or shop and the street, and after the name of a month when preceding 
that of the year to which it belongs : but, as these words are employed 
neither adj ectively nor in apposition, the point ought to be inserted ; 
as, " No. 140, Broadway, New York, August, 1856." In accordance 
with the same principle, a comma should be put after a reference 
made to any of the sacred books, when it is followed immediately by 
mention of the chapter and verse ; as, " John, svi. 20 : " unless the 
references to Scripture are numerous, when, for the sake of neatness, 
the comma is better omitted. 

To the Teacher. — Clauses which are separable into smaller portions requiring a 
comma will be treated of in p. 71. 



EXPRESSIONS CONSTRUCTED ALIKE. 59 



OEAL EXERCISES. 

Say why, according to Rule XVI., commas are inserted in these sentences: — 

To cleanse our own opinions from falsehood, our hearts from malig- 
nity, and our actions from vice, is our first concern. 

Great moral principles, pure and generous dispositions, cannot be 
confined to this or that spot. 

The true worshipper of beauty sees it in the lowliest flower, meets 
it in every path, enjoys it everywhere. 

Eloquence is to be attained by the full culture, the general enrich- 
ing, of the heart and mind. 

Has God provided for the poor a coarser earth, a thinner air, a 
paler sky ? 

The voice of merriment and of wailing, the steps of the busy and 
the idle, have ceased in the deserted courts. 

You may dazzle men's eyes with large enterprises in philanthropy, 
but possess nothing of the philanthropic spirit. 

Beauty flows in the waves of light, radiates from the human face 
divine, and sparkles in the pathway of every child. 

The Devil loves nothing better than the intolerance of reformers, 
and dreads nothing so much as their charity and patience. 

Infinite space, endless numbers, and eternal duration, fill the mind 
with great ideas. 

Assign the reasons given in the Remarks (pp. 57-8) for the insertion ov the 
omission of commas in such sentences as the following : — 

It is education that characterizes mental power as the talent of an 
angel or the capacity of a fiend. 

Eminent talent and distinguished attainment are sometimes con- 
nected with obliquity of character. 

The student may, by close application and by proper culture, attain 
ease and grace in his composition. 

Some persons mistake abhorrence of vice for uncharitableness, and 
piety for enthusiasm. 

Suffering often calls forth our best feelings, and the highest energies 
of the mind. 

Fraud, enthusiasm, and narrowness of view, often shape the pre- 
mises to fit the conclusion. 

Babylon and Troy and Tyre, and even early Rome, are passing 
already into fiction. 

Age never dims their sight, nor slackens their speed, nor weakens 
their force, nor abates their fidelity. 

Perfection of mind consists of firmness and mildness, of force and 
tenderness, of vigor and grace. 

On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, the Puritans 
looked down with contempt. 



60 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WEITTEN. 

Let the punctuation of such of the following sentences as require to be pointed 
accord with the Rule and Remarks (pp. 57-8) : — 

Joint effort conquers nature hews through mountains rears pyra- 
mids dikes out the ocean. 

Genius deals with the possible creates new combinations discovers 
new laws and acts from an insight into principles. 

Refined manners and polite behavior must not be deemed alto- 
gether superficial. (First of Remark c.) 

To be wise in our own eyes to be wise in the opinion of the world 
and to be wise in the sight of our Creator seldom coincide. 

It should be the first object of education to form a pure heart high 
principle an earnest and ingenuous spirit. 

We live in times that call for wisdom in contemplation and virtue 
in action. (Rule, and Remark d.) 

Every human being has a work to carry on within duties to per- 
form abroad influences to exert which are peculiarly his. 

Ancient superstition introduced the fine arts into her train called 
the powers of genius to her aid and employed the painter and the 
poet to hold out her charms to the world. 

To the poor and the desolate the timid and the anxious the weary 
and the aged the idea of a common brotherhood must be full of light. 
(Rule, and Remark i.) 

The only distinctions in society which should be recognized are 
those of the soul of strong principle of incorruptible integrity of use- 
fulness of cultivated intellect of fidelity in seeking for truth. 

Do the voice of the wise and the arm of the brave and the blood 
of the patriot go for nothing in the wild conflict that is desolating 
the earth ? (Rule, and first of Remark Ji.) 

Can we imagine that God's highest gift of intelligence imagination 
and moral power were bestowed to provide only for animal wants ? 
(Remark f.) 

AY ant and anxiety and habitual discontent and hate of fancied 
oppression can never raise a class and excite it to noble efforts. 
(Rule, and Remarks i, g, e.) 

How often, in surveying the great man's splendid mansion and 
wandering through his ancient woods and beautiful gardens have we 
met with some touching memorial of human affection ! (Remark c.) 

The pure, kind, trustful heart, intent on duty and only ambitious 
of usefulness, bears, in the beaming eye and open brow and glad- 
some voice, unfailing evidence of inward peace and joy. (Last of 
Remarks c and Ji.) 

That fortitude which has encountered no dangers that prudence 
which has surmounted no difficulties that integrity which has been 
attended by no temptations can at best be considered but as gold not 
yet brought to the test. 



THE VERB UNDERSTOOD. 61 

RULE xvn. 

Clauses having a Verb understood. 

When the clauses of a compound sentence have each a 
different nominative, but have only one verb, expressed in the 
first clause and understood in the others, the ellipsis, or place 
of the verb, should be supplied by a comma. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. A wise man seeks to shine in himself; a fool, to outshine others. 

2. The wise man considers what he wants ; the fool, what he abounds in. 

3. The wise man is happy in his own approbation ; the fool, in the applause 

of his fellows. 

REMARKS. 

a. In these examples, a comma is inserted after the contrasted 
nominative, " fool," to indicate, in the first sentence, the ellipsis of the 
verb " seeks ; " in the second, that of the verb " considers ; " and, in 
the third, that of the verb and adjective, " is happy." Hence a 
semicolon is required before the contrasted nominative, to divide each 
sentence into the two larger portions of which it consists, and to show 
the relation of its various parts. 

6. But, if the clauses equally refer to a final expression, the comma 
should be omitted after the second nominative, and the semicolon 
before it changed into a comma ; as, " Longinus possessed most deli- 
cacy, Aristotle most correctness, of judgment " 

c. So, also, when two short clauses are joined by either of the con- 
junctions and, or, nor, but, the comma should be omitted where the 
verb is understood, and the semicolon after the first clause exchanged 
for a comma; as, "Life is precarious, and death certain." 

d. When, too, in a series of clauses, each ellipsis is followed by a 
preposition or by the comparative as, the free style of pointing seems 
more appropriate ; as, " Mathematicians have sought knowledge in 
figures, philosophers in systems, logicians in subtilties, and metaphy- 
sicians in sounds." 

e. If, however, obscurity would arise, either in two clauses or in a 
series, from the omission of the comma, the punctuation adopted in 
the examples under the rule must be followed ; as, " Power reminds 
you of weakness ; permanency, of change ; life, of death ; light, of 
darkness ; and the true, of the false." 

f When lightness or vivacity characterizes the style, the free mode 
of pointing is preferable to the other, if no ambiguity would arise 
from its use. 

6 



62 THE COMMA. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Why, according to Rule XVII.,* are commas inserted in these sentences ? — 

Curiosity allures the wise ; vanity, the foolish ; and pleasure, both. 

The Grecians excelled in precepts ; the Romans, in examples. 

Homer was the greater genius ; Virgil, the better artist. 

Passion overcomes shame ; boldness, fear ; and madness, reason. 

Anger prompts men to contention ; avarice, to oppression. 

The benevolent man is esteemed ; the penurious, despised. 

A robber employs violence ; and a thief, cunning and guile. 

The young are slaves to novelty ; the old, to custom. 

War is the law of violence ; peace, the law of love. 

The Doric dialect was broad and rough ; the Ionic, smooth. 

Semiramis built Babylon ; Dido, Carthage ; and Romulus, Rome. 

Labor brings pleasure ; idleness, pain. 

Plants are formed by culture ; men, by education. 

One murder makes a villain ; millions, a hero. 

Pleasant recollections promote cheerfulness ; and painful ones, gloom. 

Crowns were the playthings of Napoleon ; thrones, his footstool. 

Truth belongs to the man ; error, to his age. 

Benevolence is allied to few vices ; selfishness, to fewer virtues. 

The idle want steadiness of purpose ; the indolent, power of exertion. 



Assign the reasons for the punctuation of the following sentences, agreeably to 
the Eemarks (p. 61) : — 

Shakspeare was the greatest poet, Newton the most distinguished 
mathematician, that England ever produced. 

Herder had more of the Oriental fancy, Schleiermacher more of the 
European acuteness, in his composition. 

Our existence has no support, our life no aim, our spiritual weak- 
ness no power to lean upon, without God. 

The coarse worm yields us a beautiful fly, and the thorny bush a 
lovely flower. 

The wise man is happy when he gains his own approbation, and the 
fool when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him. 

The notions of Dryden were formed by comprehensive speculation, 
but those of Pope by minute attention. 

Chaucer describes things as they are, Spenser as we wish them to 
be, Shakspeare as they would be, and Milton as they ought to be. 

Shakspeare died in 1616, Milton in 1674, Dryden in 1700, Pope 
in 1744, and Goldsmith in 1774. 

Bonaparte was a man of unbounded ambition ; and Washington, 
of disinterested patriotism. 

* To the Teacher. — The pupil can have little difficulty in understanding and 
applying the rule, if he be taught to understand the nature of a compound sentence, 
and, when this is elliptical, to supply the words omitted. (See Definition III., p. 3.) 



THE VERB UNDERSTOOD. 63 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 



Punctuate those sentences to which no references are given, in accordance with 
Rule XVII. ; and the others agreeably to the Remarks (p. 61) : — 

The character of Milton was peculiarly distinguished by loftiness 
of thought ; that of Dante by intensity of feeling. 

Concession is no humiliation nor admission of error any disgrace. 
(Remark c.) 

Genius is the intuitive perception of what is ; moral sentiment the 
feeling of what ought to be. 

The sculptor sees a statue and the philosopher a principle, where, 
to the general eye, all is " without form, and void." (Remark 6.) 

Homer's imagination is by much the most rich and copious ; Vir- 
gil's the most chaste and correct. 

The cupola is taken from the human skull pillars from legs thatch- 
ing from hair and tiling from the scales of fish. (Remark d.) 

All our mental perceptions suggest their opposites, — the finite 
the infinite ; the seen the unseen ; time eternity ; creation a God. 

Avarice must come to the hour of utter destitution and pride to 
the hour of utter prostration. (Remark c.) 

The quality the most difficult to be found in public situations is 
probity ; the least difficult confidence. 

Some men are eminent for what they possess some for what they 
achieve and others for what they are. (Remark d.) 



The first ingredient in conversation is truth ; the next good sense ; 
the third good-humor ; and the fourth wit. 

A pictured landscape recalls a familiar scene and a portrait a fami- 
liar countenance. (Remark c.) 

Talent is full of thoughts; genius of thought. One has definite 
acquisitions ; the other indefinite power. 

Addison taught the intellect and fancy and Richardson the pas- 
sions, to move at the command of virtue. (Remark b or c.) 

To mourn without measure is folly; not to mourn at all insensibi- 
lity. — Foresight is simple ; retrospect multiform. 

The young are slaves to novelty the old to custom the middle-aged 
to both the dead to neither. (Remark d.) 

Custom respects things which are done by the majority; habit 
those which are done by individuals. 

A man's true prosperity often begins when he is said to be ruined 
and his ruin when he is said to be prospering. (Remark c.) 

Delicacy leans more to feeling; correctness more to reason and 
judgment. The former is the gift of nature; the latter more the 
product of culture and art. 

Rashness is the error of youth ; and timid caution of age. — Hurry 
is the mark of a weak mind ; despatch of a strong one. (Rule, and 
Remark e.) 



64: THE COMMA. 

RULE XVIH. 

Clauses consisting of Short Quotations or Remarks. 

A short quotation, or any expression that resembles a 
quotation, is separated by a comma from the clause which 
introduces it. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Dr. Thomas Brown truly says, " The benevolent spirit is as -universal in 

its efforts as the miseries which are capable of being relieved." 

2. One of the first lessons of a judicious education is, Learn to think and 

to discriminate. 

3. It may be laid down as a sacred maxim, that every man is wretched in 

proportion to his vices.* 

EEMARKS. 

a. By " a short quotation " is meant a single sentence containing 
the remark of another writer. By " an expression resembling a quo- 
tation " is indicated a remark of some degree of importance, to which 
attention is called in the introductory clause. Such remark is not 
unfrequently preceded by the conjunction "that," as in the third 
example ; and, in these cases, the comma is usually inserted before 
the conjunction. 

5. When an indirect quotation or a remark is short, or is preceded 
by a very brief clause, the comma is not required; as, "Andrew says 
he loves me." — "J doubt not that mind is immortal." 

c. But, if the remark or quotation consists of phrases which require 
to be punctuated, a comma should precede the conjunction, even when 
the introductory part of the sentence is quite short ; as, " Ossian says, 
that sorrow, like a cloud on the sun, shaded the soul of Clessamour." 

d. The comma may be omitted before that, when the clause on 
which the conjunction depends does not precede the remark, but is 
thrown in between its parts ; as, " In the ancient world, it is ivell 
known that the name of poet was the same as that of prophet." 

e. But when, in similar sentences, the conjunction is omitted, the 
comma should be substituted, agreeably to the principle adopted in 
intermediate expressions ; as, " In the ancient world, it is well known, 
the name of poet was the same as that of prophet." (See p. 34, 
Rule VIII.) 

* To the Teacher. — The teacher may, by referring to the third rule under the 
" Colon," point out to his class the distinction existing between sentences which 
should have only the comma before a quotation, and those which require a colon. 



SHORT QUOTATIONS. 65 

f. A clause which begins with what, when, where, if, or how, indi- 
cating an indirect question or remark, is not usually separated from 
its antecedent clause ; as, " Will no one tell me what she sings ? " — 
« Revelation clearly informs us how we may obtain happiness." 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Say why, according to Rule XVffl., the following sentences are punctuated: — 

Patrick Henry commenced by saying, "It is natural to man to 
indulge in the illusions of hope." 

The great and decisive test of genius is, that it calls forth power in 
the souls of others. 

I am not now to discuss the question, whether the souls of men 
are naturally equal. 

The very correct remark has been made, that " it is a great loss to 
lose an affliction." 

I reply, I do and must regard heaven as a world of intercourse and 
sympathy. 

His grand excellence was this, that he was a true man. — There 
is much in the proverb, " Without pains, no gains." 

Such seems to be the disposition of man, whatever makes a dis- 
tinction produces rivalry. 

It is a law of man's nature, that he should endeavor to act before- 
hand the part to which he is destined in a higher state of being. 



Hoio do the preceding Remarks apply to the insertion or the omission of commas 
in the sentences that follow ? — 

St. John says that God is love. — Swift asserts that no man ever 
wished himself younger. 

Every one knows James is a very prolific writer. — I trust you feel 
the importance of the subject. 

Coleridge said that he had the habit of seeking for the good and 
beautiful in all his eyes beheld. 

It cannot be questioned, that we are, as yet, only in the rudiments 
of the great science of education. 

Wirt writes, that, as a statesman, Alexander Hamilton was distin- 
guished for the great extent of his views. 

Ere another day pass, I hope that you will find yourself surrounded 
by your wife and children. 

In delineating the character of Dr. Bowditch, it deserves to be 
mentioned that he was eminently a self-taught and self-made man. 

By the sweat of our brow, I say, we have to earn the little which 
we possess. 

We all know how a man of mighty genius can impart himself to 
other minds. 



66 THE COMMA. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert commas or not between the clauses of the following sentences, in accord- 
ance with the eighteenth Rule and the Remarks (pp. 64-5) : — 

Seneca tells us " There is a settled friendship, nay, a near relation 
and similitude, between God and good men." 

In the great science of society, it must be confessed that we have 
much to learn. (Remark d.) 

They know not what they say who cry out " Let us build taber- 
nacles of rest." 

It may be laid down as an unfailing and universal axiom that " all 
pride is abject and mean." 

We know it is wrong. — I tell you that I have not your book. — 
He said she bought it. (Remark 5.) 

The true ennoblement of our nature consists in the feeling that our 
existence stretches beyond the bounds of this globe. 

It is well known what strange work there has been in the world, 
under the name and pretence of reformation. (Remark f.) 

It has long been a subject of inquiry whether there existed in 
nature a universal language. 

Tell me when was it that you felt yourself most strongly inclined 
to go astray ? — Tell me when it was that you felt yourself most 
strongly inclined to go astray. (Rule, and Remark f.) 



I say unto all Watch. — It is a true saying that we are never too 
old to be taught. 

In the din and bustle of business, it may be the voice of conscience 
and duty speaks unheard. (Remark e.) 

Keep it in view that the great object of study is to fit the mind to 
be an instrument of usefulness in life. 

It is not enough that we have great qualities : we must also have 
the management of them. (Remark 6.) 

A celebrated modern writer says " Take care of the minutes, and 
the hours will take care of themselves." 

We affirm that, without some portion of enthusiasm, no person ever 
became a true poet or painter. (Remark c.) 

It was said of Socrates that he brought philosophy down from 
heaven to dwell among men. 

There is no foundation for the popular doctrine that a state may 
flourish by arts and crimes. 

I may say that, of all the men we meet with, nine parts out of ten 
are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education. 
(Remark c.) 

It is one among the pious and valuable maxims which are ascribed 
to Francis de Sales ," A judicious silence is always better than truth 
spoken without charity." 



NUMEKAL FIGURES AND WORDS- 67 

RULE XIX. 

Numeral Figures and Words. 

With the exception of dates, figures consisting of four or 
more characters are pointed with a comma before every three 
from the end, or between each class of hundreds* 

EXAMPLE. 

The population of China in 1743, according to the French missionaries, 
was 150,029,855; in 1825, according to Dr. Morrison, 352,866,002. 

REMARKS. 

a. When put in words, numbers are usually left unpointed ; as, to 
take the first calculation in the example, " The population of China, 
in 1743, was a hundred and fifty millions "twenty-nine thousand, eight 
hundred and fifty-five." 

&. When round numbers are used, and no comparison is made 
between one sum and another, words are preferable to figures; as, 
"According to Balbi, the entire population of Africa is thirty-nine 
millions." 



EXERCISE TO BE "WRITTEN. 

Punctuate tlie figures, except those expressive of dates : — 

The sun is 883210 miles in diameter, about 2774692 miles in cir- 
cumference, and distant from the earth about 95000000 of miles. 

The Rocky Mountains rise 12500 feet above the level of the ocean; 
the Andes, 21440 feet. 

On April 17, 1790, Dr. Franklin died at Philadelphia, aged eighty- 
four, and bequeathed $4444 to the people of Boston, for the benefit 
of young married artificers. 

Population of the city of New York, in 1790, was 33131 ; in 1800, 
60489; in 1810, 96373; in 1820, 123706; in 1830, 202589; in 
1840, 312710; in 1850, 515507. 

According to Murray's " Encyclopaedia of Geography," the popula- 
tion of the Chinese empire has been estimated as follows: China 
proper, 148897000 ; Corea, 8463000 ; Thibet and Boutan, 6800000 ; 
Mandshuria, Mongolia, &c, 9000000 ; Colonies, 1000000. 

* To the Teacheu. — Properly speaking, the comma, as here used, is neither a 
grammatical nor a rhetorical point; but, for the easy understanding of the value of 
sums, it is exceedingly useful. The rule is inserted in this place, merely because a 
more appropriate situation could not be found for it in the book. 



68 



Sect. II. — THE SEMICOLON. 



The Seuicolon [ ; ] is used to separate such parts of a 
sentence as are somewhat less closely connected than those 
separated by a comma.* 

RULE L 

A Sentence consisting of Two Conjoined Clauses. 

When two clauses are united by either of the conjunctions 
for, but, and, or an equivalent word, — the one clause perfect 
in itself, and the other added as a matter of inference, contrast, 
or explanation, — they are separated by a semicolon. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Economy is no disgrace ; for it is better to live on a little than to outlive 

a great deal. 

2. Genius breaks from the fetters of criticism; but its "wanderings are sanc- 

tioned by its majesty and wisdom. 

3. Modesty is one of the chief ornaments of youth; and it has ever been 

esteemed a presage of rising merit. 

B Z M A B K S. 

a. When a conjunction unites two clauses incapable of being sub- 
divided by a comma, in the last of which the nominative is understood, 
the insertion of a comma -between the clauses is preferable to that 
of the semicolon. Thus, were the nominative " it," in the third 
example, omitted, the sentence would be punctuated as follows : 
" Modesty is one of the chief ornaments of youth, and has ever been 
esteemed a presage of rising merit." 

* To the Teacher. — By reading a few passages in any composition, the teacher 
■will see the mistake made by some gra mm arians, when they define the semicolon to 
be the mark of a pause of less duration than the colon, double the duration of the 
comma, or half the duration of the period. It always, indeed, marks the intermis- 
sion of the Toice; but the length of that intermission is never uniform, being deter- 
mined wholly by the nature and import of the sentences in which the semicolon 
occurs. 



TWO CONJOINED CLAUSES. 69 

b. When a sentence consists of three or more clauses, united by a 
conjunction, none of which are susceptible of division, a semicolon 
should be put between those which are least connected in sense, and 
a comma only between the others ; as, " The woods may disappear, 
but the spirit of them will never now ; for it has been felt by a poet, 
and we can feel for ever what he felt," 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Repeat the preceding Definition and Rule, and say why semicolons are inserted 
in the following sentences ; — 

All cannot be great ; and nobody may reasonably expect all the 
world to be engaged with lauding his merits. 

Idleness is the parent of every vice ; but well-directed activity is 
the source of every laudable pursuit and worldly attainment. 

The spirit of true religion inspires magnanimity ; and magnanimity 
always breathes gentleness. 

An entire retreat from worldly affairs is not what religion requires ; 
nor does it even enjoin a long retreat from them. 

Religion must be the spirit of every hour ; but it cannot be the 
meditation of every hour. 

A clownish air is but a small defect ; yet it is enough to make a 
man disagreeable. 

We have carved a cross upon our altars ; but the smoke of our 
sacrifice goes up to Thor and Odin still. 

Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared; for the 
greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. 

Endless existence is a great truth; but an immortality of pure 
affections and holy employments is far greater. 

Do not think yourself perfect ; for imperfection is natural to hu- 
manity. 

Pope had perhaps the judgment of Dryden ; but Dryden certainly 
wanted the diligence of Pope. 

Life is felt to be a great and gracious boon by all who enjoy its 
light ; and this is not too much felt. 

Never value yourself upon your fortune ; for this is the sign of a 
weak mind. 

Virtue is a real honor; whereas all other distinctions are merely 
titular. 

Reasoning implies doubt and uncertainty ; and therefore God does 
not reason. 

More was as really a martyr as Cranmer ; and he was much braver 
and more upright in conduct. 

The people cannot be profound ; but the truths which regulate the 
moral and political relations of man are at no great distance from 
the surface. 



70 THE SEMICOLON. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let the following sentences be punctuated agreeably to the preceding Rule and 
Remarks (pp. 6*8-9) : — 

Make a proper use of your time for the loss of it can never be 
regained. 

Truth will pass down in fragments to posterity but posterity will 
collect and compose them into a whole. 

Ivy is the beauty of old ruins and your faith is not unlike it for it 
springs up as strongly from amidst fallen hopes. (Remark b.) 

The most exact economy was observed yet nothing was mean or 
uncomfortable. 

Chaucer followed nature everywhere but never went beyond her. 
(Remark a.) 

Good and evil are inseparable companions but the latter often hides 
behind the back of the former. 

He is a freeman whom the truth makes free and all are slaves 
beside. 

The proud have no friends in prosperity for then they know nobody 
and none in adversity for then no one knows them. (Remark b.) 

Property left to a child may soon be lost but the inheritance of 
virtue will abide for ever. 

Outward suffering is the lot of human nature and it is cheering to 
see it bravely borne even on the battle-field. 



A good conscience is a continual feast and proves a spring of joy 
amidst the greatest distresses. (Remark a.) 

The study of truth is perpetually joined with the love of virtue for 
there is no virtue which derives not its original from truth. 

A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism but depth in 
philosophy bringeth men's minds to religion. 

Infidelity is not always built upon doubt for this is diffident nor 
philosophy always upon wisdom for this is meek. (Remark b.) 

Some persons make a long story short but most persons make a 
short story long. — Scott built a castle but he broke his heart. 

Very few works of this class possessed any literary merit but many 
of them are valuable or curious as records of facts. 

Great events give scope for great virtues but the main tenor of 
human life is composed of small occurrences. 

We promise according to our hopes but perform according to our 
fears. (Remark a.) 

The esteem of wise and good men is the greatest of all temporal 
encouragements to virtue and it is the mark of an abandoned spirit 
to have no regard for it. 

The great national epochs are also the epochs of intellectual culti- 
vation and, accordingly, our literary annals may be arranged in four 
successive periods. 



EXPRESSIONS DIVIDED INTO SIMPLER PARTS. 71 

RULE II. 

Expressions divided into Simpler Parts. 

A semicolon is placed between two or more parts of a sen- 
tence, when these, or any of them, are divisible by a comma 
into smaller portions. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Men are not to be judged by their looks, habits, and appearances; but by 

the character of their lives and conversations, and by their works. 

2. The noblest prophets and apostles have been children once; lisping the 

speech, laughing the laugh, thinking the thought, of boyhood. 

3. As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive it 

moving; so our advances in learning, as they consist of such minute 
steps, are perceivable only by the distance. 

REMARKS. 

a. It is obvious, that, when the smaller portions of a sentence re- 
quire to be separated by a comma from each other, the construction 
and sense of the whole passage will be more readily perceived if the 
larger divisions are set apart by the insertion of a point indicating a 
less intimate connection. This will show the propriety of putting 
a semicolon, in the first example, between the negative and the 
affirmative portion of the sentence ; in the second, between the clause 
and the series of phrases ; and, in the third, between the members. 

b. When the insertion of a semicolon would tend to break up the 
harmony or the dependences of the thought expressed, the larger por- 
tions of a sentence, though its smaller parts are susceptible of being 
grammatically divided, should be separated only by a comma.* 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Assign the reason for the insertion of semicolons in the following sentences: — 

Prosperity is naturally, though not necessarily, attached to virtue 
and merit ; adversity, to vice and folly. 

Every thing that happens is both a cause and an effect ; being the 
effect of what goes before, and the cause of what follows. 

Argument, as usually managed, is the worst sort of conversation ; 
as it is generally, in books, the worst sort of reading. 

It is the first point of wisdom to ward off evils ; the second, to make 
them beneficial. 

Employ your time well, if you mean to gain leisure ; and, since 
you are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. 

* To the Teacher — See " Treatise on English Punctuation," p. 117, Remark. 



72 THE SEMICOLON. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Agreeably to the Rule (p. 71), insert semicolons in all the following sentences, 
except one : — 

Melissa, like the bee, gathers honey from every weed while Arachne, 
like the spider, sucks poison from the fairest flowers. 

Be not anxious, impatient, or over-inquisitive but be thoughtful, 
serious, and calm. 

The golden rule is a protest against selfishness and selfishness, 
cleaving as it does to the inward core of our being, is the besetting 
sin of the world. 

As a malicious censure, craftily worded and pronounced with assu- 
rance, is apt to pass with mankind for shrewd wit so a virulent maxim 
in bold expressions, though without any justness of thought, is readily 
received for true philosophy. 

Every particle of dust, every grain of sand, every minutest atom, 
is an active agent in the mighty whole making itself felt through 
all the masses in our solar system, and through this on all systems in 
the universe. 

By granting that intellectual improvement was unfavorable to pro- 
ductions of the imagination, we should look to the least cultivated 
minds for bolder nights than to Milton, Pope, or Byron the absurdity 
of which is seen by the mere statement of it. 



When we look up to heaven, and behold the sun shining in glory, 
or the moon and the stars walking in brightness untaught nature 
prompts us to adore Him who made them, to bow down and worship 
in the temple not made with hands. (Remark 6.) 

Wordsworth, in his poetry, works out wisdom as it comes from the 
common heart of man, and appeals to that heart in turn causing us 
to recognize the truth, that there is something in humanity which 
deserves alike our love and reverence. 

The most precious of all possessions is power over ourselves power 
to withstand trial, to bear suffering, to front danger power over plea- 
sure and pain power to follow our convictions, however resisted by 
menace and scorn the power of calm reliance in scenes of darkness 
and storms. 

As we trust the long-tried affection of a human friend, when, for 
reasons satisfactory to him, he now and then withholds from us his 
ultimate purposes so pious souls, acquiescing in ignorance, and con- 
scious of absolute dependence on the Parent Mind, dissolve their fears 
and their doubts in perfect faith. 

There, cold and lifeless, is the heart which just now was the seat 
of friendship there, dim and sightless, is the eye whose radiant and 
enlivening orb beamed with intelligence and there, closed for ever, 
are those lips on whose persuasive accents we have so often and so 
lately hung with transport. 



SERIES OF EXPRESSIONS. 73 

RULE HI. 

A Series of Expressions having a Common Dependence. 

When, in a series of expressions, the particulars depend on 
a commencing or a concluding portion of the sentence, they 
should be separated from each other by a semicolon, if they form 
distinct propositions, or are of a compound nature. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Philosophers assert, that Nature is unlimited in her operations; that 
she has inexhaustible treasures in reserve ; that knowledge will always be 
progressive ; and that all future generations will continue to make discove- 
ries, of which we have not the slightest idea. 

2. To give an early preference to honor above gain, when they stand in 
competition ; to despise every advantage which cannot be attained without 
dishonest arts ; to brook no meanness, and stoop to no dissimulation, — are 
the indications of a great mind, the presages of future eminence and use- 
fulness in life. 

3. If we think of glory in the field; of wisdom in the cabinet; of the 
purest patriotism ; of the highest integrity, public and private ; of morals 
without a stain; of religious feelings without intolerance and without extra- 
vagance, — the august figure of Washington presents itself as the personation 
of all these ideas. 

REMARKS. 

a. The first sentence exemplifies a series of clauses, being each a 
distinct proposition, but depending all on the words that precede them ; 
namely, " philosophers assert." The second example illustrates a 
series of expressions, the first two consisting each of a phrase and 
a clause ; the third, of two coupled phrases ; and all depending on the 
portion which concludes the sentence, — on the predicate, " are the in- 
dications of a great mind," &c. The third example exhibits a series 
of phrases, which, according to Rule XVI., p. 57, would be punctuated 
only with a comma, were it not for the compound phrase, " of the 
highest integrity, public and private," the subdivision of which requires 
to be distinguished by a point less significant than that between the 
other phrases.* 

b. Commas are sometimes preferable to semicolons, when none of 
the particulars in a series of expressions, except perhaps the last, are 

* To the Teacher. — If he think it requisite, the teacher may explain to his 
class, that a dash appended to a comma, as in the second and third examples under 
the rule, is put after the last particular, to show more clearly the relation of all the 
particulars to the portion on which they depend. (See Chap. III., Sect. III., Rule II.) 

7 



74 THE SEMICOLON. 

divisible into simpler portions ; as, " Poetry \ reveals to us the loveli- 
ness of nature, brings back the freshness of early feeling, revives the 
relish of simple pleasures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which 
warmed the spring-time of our being, refines youthful love, strengthens 
our interest in human nature by vivid delineations of its tenderest 
and loftiest feelings, spreads our sympathies over all classes of society, 
knits us by new ties with universal being, and, through the brightness 
of its prophetic visions, helps faith to lay hold on the future life." 
(See p. 57.) 

ORAL EXERCISE. 

Shoiv how the Rule (p. 73) may be applied to the insertion of semicolons in the 
following sentences : — 

Is there any splendor to be found in distant travels beyond that 
which sits its morning throne in the golden east ; any dome sublimer 
than that of heaven ; any beauty fairer than that of the verdant and 
blossoming earth ; any place, though invested with all the sanctities 
of old time, like that home which is hushed and folded within the 
embrace of the humblest wall and roof ? 

Happy, thrice happy, he who relies on the eternity of the soul ; 
who believes, as the loved fall one after one from his side, that they 
have returned to their native country ; who feels that each treasure 
of knowledge he attains, he carries with him through illimitable being ; 
who sees in virtue the essence and the element of the world he is to 
inherit. 

There are men whose powers operate in leisure and in retirement, 
and whose intellectual vigor deserts them in conversation ; whom 
merriment confuses, and objection disconcerts ; whose bashfulness 
restrains their exertion, and suffers them not to speak till the time of 
speaking is past ; or whose attention to their own character makes 
them unwilling to utter at hazard what has not been considered, and 
cannot be recalled. 

If thou hast never tasted the holy peace which descends into the 
simplest heart, when it fervently realizes the presence of God ; if no 
gleam from the future life ever brightens thy earthly way; if the 
sores and irritations of thy contact with the world are never soothed 
and softened by the healing consciousness of a divine love, — thou 
hast studied to little purpose, and the fountains of a true happiness 
are yet sealed up to thee. 

That benevolence which prompted Jesus to incessant exertion; 
which supported him through unparalleled suffering ; which was alike 
the soul of his discourses, his actions, and his miracles ; which shone 
through his life and his death ; whose splendors were around his brow, 
when he expired on the cross, and when he sat down on the right 
hand of the Majesty on high, — what is it but a glorious revelation 
of the glorious truth, that God is love ? 



SERIES OF EXPRESSIONS. 75 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert semicolons or commas between the particulars of each series in these 
sentences, in accordance with the Rule and Remarks (pp. 73-4) : — 

The great tendency and purpose of poetry is to carry the mind 
above and beyond the beaten, dusty, weary walks of ordinary life to 
lift it into a purer element and to breathe into it more profound and 
generous emotion. 

To have even our earthly being extended in everlasting remem- 
brance to be known wherever the name of virtue can reach and to be 
known as the benefactors of every age, by the light which we have 
diffused, or the actions which we have performed or prompted, — who 
is there that does not feel some desire of this additional immortality ? 

Benevolence remembers the slave pleads his cause with God and 
man recognizes in him a human brother respects in him the sacred 
rights of humanity and claims for him, not as a boon but as a right, 
that freedom without which humanity withers, and God's child is 
degraded into a tool or a brute. (Remark 6.) 

The bad phenomenon of character, which is mainly to be traced 
to impulse, is that of uncertainty of a being on whom no dependence 
can be placed who is driven hither and thither by every wind that 
blows who receives impressions one day from one quarter, another 
day from another who has neither fixed principles in his intellect, nor 
harmony and consistency in his conduct. 



No matter in what language the stranger's doom may have been 
pronounced no matter what complexion, incompatible with freedom, 
an Indian or an African sun may have burned upon him no matter 
in what disastrous battle his liberty may have been cloven down no 
matter with what solemnities he may have been devoted upon the 
altar of slavery, — the first moment he touches the sacred soil of 
Britain, the altar and the god sink together in the dust his soul walks 
abroad in her own majesty his body swells beyond the measure of 
his chains, that burst from around him and he stands redeemed, re- 
generated, and disinthralled by the irresistible Genius of Universal 
Emancipation. 

In the light of beauty that floats over the changing aspects of the 
material universe in the grand, interpreting thought which pervades 
the broken story of the ages, and translates it into coherency in the 
spirit which comes to you from the smiles of gladness and the tears 
of sorrow, and softens your heart in genial sympathy Avith human 
weal and human woe in the interchange of ideas which kindles enthu- 
siasm, and draws a higher meaning and purpose out of life, — acknow- 
ledge realities which transcend the limits of sense own a spiritual 
world whose mysteries encompass you on every side, by whose laws 
you are bound, and in whose issues of endless unfolding you are 
yourself perhaps destined to be involved. 



76 THE SEMICOLON. 

RULE IV. 

Short Sentences slightly Connected. 

When several short sentences follow one another, slightly 
connected in sense or in construction, they should be separated 
by a semicolon. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Stones grow; vegetables grow and live; animals grow, live, and feel. 

2. Every thing grows old ; every thing passes away; every thing disappears. 

3. She presses her child to her heart ; she drowns it in her tears ; her fancy 

catches more than an angel's tongue could describe. 

REMARKS. 

a. It will be seen that each example under the rule consists of a 
number of short sentences, which are somewhat allied in thought and 
in mode of expression. They are, therefore, separated not by full 
points, but by semicolons. 

b. When, in a series of short sentences, each particular is con- 
structed alike, and the last is preceded by the conjunction and, the 
separation may be indicated by a comma, instead of a semicolon ; as, 
" The pride of wealth is contemptible, the pride of learning is pitiable, 
the pride of dignity is ridiculous, and the pride of bigotry is insup- 
portable." (See p. 51, Rule, and Remark 6.) 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

What is the reason for the insertion of semicolons in these sentences ? — 

The wind and rain are over ; calm is the noon of day ; the clouds 
are divided in heaven-; over the green hill flies the inconstant sun. 

The old men sit at their doors ; the gossip leans over her counter ; 
the children shout and frolic in the streets. 

There is good for the good ; there is virtue for the faithful ; there 
is victory for the valiant ; there is spirituality for the spiritual. 

When a writer reasons, we look only for perspicuity; when he 
describes, we expect embellishment; when he decides or relates, we 
desire plainness and simplicity. 

The Christian orator speaks the truth plainly to his hearers; he 
awakens them; he shows them their impending danger; he excites 
them to action. 

The temples are profaned ; the soldier's curse resounds in the house 
of God ; the marble pavement is trampled by iron hoofs ; horses neigh 
beside the altar. 



SENTENCES SLIGHTLY CONNECTED. 77 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

ate these short sentences by means of semicolons, in accordance with the 
preceding Rule and Remarks : — 

He is poor perhaps his plans have been defeated he finds it difficult 
to provide for the exigencies of life sickness is permitted to invade the 
quiet of his household long confinement imprisons his activity. 

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods there is a rapture on the 
lonely shore there is society, where none intrudes, by the deej) sea, 
and music in its roar. 

Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, the dark, unfathomed caves 
of ocean bear full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its 
sweetness on the desert air. 

In reading a classical poet, we feel as if we had entered a marble 
temple, where a cool silence reigns a few quiet statues gleam around 
us, pure and naked a few short inscriptions tell of the deeds of heroes 
all is calm, grand, and simple, to the highest perfection of art. 

Genius, mental power, has surrounded your homes with comfort 
it has given you the command of the blind forces of matter it has 
exalted and consecrated your affections it has brought God's immea- 
surable universe nearer to your hearts and imaginations it has made 
flowers of paradise spring up even in poor men's gardens. 



The world is fair around thee the bright and blessed sun shineth 
on thee the green and flowery fields spread far, and cheer thine eye, 
and. invite thy footstep the groves are full of melody ten thousand 
creatures range freely through all the paths of nature : but thou art 
not satisfied as they are. 

There is a God. The herbs of the valley, the cedars of the moun- 
tain, bless him the insect sports in his beams the elephant salutes him 
with the rising orb of day the bird sings him in the foliage the thun- 
der proclaims him in the heavens the ocean declares his immensity. 
Man alone has said, " There is no God." 

It is pleasant to be virtuous and good, because that is to excel 
many others it is pleasant to grow better, because that is to excel our- 
selves it is pleasant to mortify and subdue our lusts, because that is 
victory it is pleasant to command our appetites and passions, and to 
keep them in due order, within the bounds of reason and religion, 
because that is empire. 

Saints have established our religion by their lives martyrs have 
confirmed it by their deaths hypocrites have added strength to it 
by their dissimulation tyrants have purified it by their persecutions 
infidels have corroborated it by their opposition the arrows of its ene- 
mies have served for its protection the resistance which it has met 
with from the combined wit and genius and malice of mankind have 
brought forth those illustrious and immortal defences which establish 
its truth upon the basis of demonstration. 

7* 



78 THE SEMICOLON. 

RULE V. 

Lists of Words, Phrases, and Numbers. 

A semicolon is put before as, to wit, namely, and other 
words of a similar import, when they precede an example or 
a specification of particulars, or subjects enumerated ; and also, 
in lists, between phrases or words, single or in pairs, if but 
slightly connected with one another. 

y EXAMPLES. 

1. To Greece we are indebted for the three principal orders of architecture ; 

namely, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. 

2. Many words are differently spelled in English; as, "Inquire, enquire; 

jail, gaol; sceptic, skeptic." 

3. De Quincey's Philosophical Writers, 2 vols. Vol. 1. Hamilton; Mackin- 

tosh; Kant; Herder; Richter; Lessing. Vol. 2. Bentley; Parr. 

REMARKS. 

a. In the first and second examples, a semicolon is put before 
" namely," " as," to exhibit more clearly the particulars which these 
words serve to introduce. Between the phrases or coupled words of 
the second example, and the single names in the third, the same point 
is inserted to show that they are quite distinct one from the other ; in 
the latter case, each writer constituting a separate subject in the work 
which treats of them. 

b. When as, namely, that is, &c, with the terms after them, are 
used parenthetically, they should be preceded only by a comma ; as, 
" The word ' reck,' that is, care, denotes a stretching of the mind." 
— " Of the three cardinal virtues, namely, faith, hope, and charity, 
the greatest is charity." (See pp. 34, 40.) 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Say why semicolons are used in the following sentences : — 

The inseparable preposition pre is derived from the Latin prce ; 
as in " prefix, prejudice, predetermine." 

Some men distinguish the period of the world into four ages ; viz., 
the golden age, the silver age, the brazen age, and the iron age. 

Logicians say that the operations of the mind are three ; namely, 
1. Simple apprehension ; 2. Judgment ; 3. Discourse, or reasoning. 

Our duties to individuals are classed under four heads ; viz., as 
arising from affinity ; friendship ; benefits received ; contract. 

Find the increase in the population from 1790 to 1800; to 1810; 
1820; 1830; 1840; 1850; from 1800 to 1810; 1810 to 1850. 



79 



Sect. III. — THE COLON. 



The Colon [ : ; ] is used in composition between parts less 
connected than those which are divided by a semicolon, but 
not so independent as separate and complete sentences.* 

RULE I. 

Two Clauses not joined by a Conjunction. 

A colon should be put after a clause which is complete in 
itself, but followed, without a conjunction, by some remark, 
inference, or illustration. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Virtue is too lovely and useful to be immured in a cell: the world is her 

sphere of action. 

2. Nor was the religion of the Greek drama a mere form : it was full of 

truth, spirit, and power. 

3. In business there is something more than barter, exchange, price, pay- 

ment: there is a sacred faith of man in man. 

REMARKS. 

a. The chief difference between this rule and that on p. 68 is, that 
the semicolon is used between- two clauses when they are united by a 
conjunction, and the colon when the particle is omitted. Thus, — 

Avoid affectation; for it is a contemptible weakness 
Avoid affectation : it is a contemptible weakness. 

b. When the conjunction is omitted between clauses having only 
one verb, a semicolon is preferable, because, by the ellipsis of the verb, 
the portions of the sentence are dependent in their construction, and 
are more closely allied ; as, " The path of truth is a plain and safe 
path; that of falsehood, a perplexing maze." (See p. 61.) 

* To the Teacher. — Some grammarians nave expressed a wish, to discard the 
use of the colon, and others have ventured even to expel it from their systems of 
punctuation. But, though in former times it was common to employ this point 
where the semicolon or the period might have been more serviceable, the teacher will 
perceive that there are in composition well-ascertained cases in which the insertion 
of the colon tends to bring out the ideas of a writer with greater facility. 



80 THE COLON. 

c. Two clauses, of which the former raises the expectation of the 
latter, or which express a comparison or a contrast one with the other, 
but without the use of a connecting word, are subject to the rule ; as, 
" Anger is like rain : it breaks itself upon that on which it falls." — 
" Cowards die many times : the valiant never taste of death but once." 

d. Conformably also to the rule, a colon is put after the adverbs 
yes, no, or after the vocative case when following them, if they are 
equivalent to a sentence answering a question previously asked or 
implied ; as, " Will he pretend to say that this is an offensive war, — 
a war of conquest ? Yes : the gentleman has dared to make this 
assertion, and for reasons no less extraordinary than the assertion 
itself." These words are, indeed, often found with a mark of excla- 
mation after them ; but they are merely abbreviated, though forcible, 
modes of expressing approval or denial, and have the signification of 
the sentence, " I emphatically answer in the affirmative," or " in the 
negative." 

e. When placed at the beginning of several sentences, to all of 
which they refer, the adverbial words again, once more, in conclusion, 
and the absolute phrases to proceed, to conclude, &c, which have the 
import of clauses, may be distinguished by a colon ; as, " To sum up 
all : My friends, the time is short. We are as guests in a strange 
land, who tarry but one night. We wander up and down," &c. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

After reciting the Definition of the colon, mention why that point is inserted in 
the following sentences : — 

Harbor no malice in thy heart : it will be a viper in thy bosom. 
Do not insult a poor man : his misery entitles him to pity. 
Never flatter the people : leave that to such as mean to betray them. 
Endeavor to excel : much may be accomplished by perseverance. 
Study to acquire the habit of thinking : no study is more important. 
Reading is but an instrument : education is to teach its best use. 
The word must be spoken : we want more justice, and less charity. 
It is a miserable thing to live in suspense : it is the life of a spider. 

A human heart throbs beneath the beggar's gabardine : it is no 
more than this that stirs with its beating the prince's mantle. 

The present life is not wholly prosaic, precise, tame, and finite : to 
the gifted eye, it abounds in the poetic. 

It is unworthy of one great people to think falsely of another : it 
is unjust, and therefore unworthy. 

All reasoning is retrospect : it consists in the application of facts 
and principles previously known. 

Nothing is denied to well-directed labor : nothing is ever to be 
attained without it. 



TWO CLAUSES NOT CONJOINED. 81 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let colons be inserted between the clauses of these sentences, in accordance with 
the Rule or the Remarks (pp. 79, 80) : — 

The silence of nature is more impressive, would we understand it, 
than any speech could be it expresses what no speech can utter. 

Satire should not be like a saw, but a sword it should cut, and not 
mangle. 

The philosophies of antiquity addressed themselves to the intellect 
the simple words of Jesus lay hold of the heart. 

Contemporaries appreciate the man, rather than his merit posterity 
will regard the merit, rather than the man. 

The actions of men are like the index of a book they point out 
what is most remarkable in them. 

Character is like stock in trade the more of it a man possesses, the 
greater his facilities for making additions to it. 

Men are often warned against old prejudices I would rather warn 
them against new conceits. 

The greatness of a gift cannot be determined by its absolute 
amount it can be truly ascertained only by a moral standard. 

It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow-necked bottles the 
less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring it out. 

For the training of goodness, the ancient reliance was on the right 
discipline of habit and affection the modern is rather on illumination 
of understanding. 

But no the Union cannot be dissolved its fortunes are too brilliant 
to be marred \ its destinies, too powerful to be resisted. (Rule, and 
Remarks d, b.) 

There is a true eloquence, which you cannot too much honor it 
calls into vigorous exercise both the understanding and the heart of 
the hearer. 

As the pupil is often obliged to bend all his faculties to the task 
before him, and tears sometimes fall on the page he is studying ; so 
it is in the school of God's providence there are hard lessons in it. 

This is certain nothing can be done without a recurrence, before 
every thing else, to strict justice in all the departments of human 
intercourse. 

Strive to be a simple, honest, faithful man whatever hidden talent 
you possess will then come forth in its genuineness, and exert all its 
power. 

Are these to be conquered by all Europe united ? No, sir no 
united nation can be, that has the spirit to resolve not to be conquered. 
(Remark cl.) 

The prophet gives the incentives to action the philosopher supplies 
matter for reflection. One recurs to the heart and the conscience as his 
medium of influence the other addresses himself to pure intellect. 



82 THE COLON. 

RULE n. 

Conjoined Members of Sentences, 

When a sentence consists of two members which are united 
by a conjunction or an adverb, and either of the members is 
divisible into clauses separated by semicolons, a colon should 
be used before the connecting word. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did not 
see it moving; and it appears that the grass has grown, though nobody 
ever saw it grow: so the advances we make in knowledge, as they consist 
of such minute steps, are perceivable only by the distance. 

2. Without the capacity of suffering, we might have been what the 
world, in its common language, terms happy; the passive subjects of a 
series of agreeable sensations : but we could not have had the delights of 
conscience ; we could not have felt what it is to be magnanimous, to have 
the toil and the combat and the victory. 

REMARKS. 

a. These sentences are obviously divisible each into two portions. 
But, as they are susceptible of being subdivided into smaller parts, 
some of which should be separated by the semicolon, according to 
the rule on page 71; so, by reason of the principle that a remoter 
connection requires a point indicating a greater separation, the colon 
is introduced between the members ; namely, before the connecting 
words " so " and "• but." 

6. In a long sentence, crowded with distinct clauses, of which 
several are united by conjunctions, it is better to insert a period than 
a colon between the two members, or largest portions ; as in the 
following passage from Sir Humphrey Davy : " I envy no quality of 
mind or intellect in others, be it genius, power, wit, or fancy ; but, 
if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most 
useful, to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other 
blessing. For it makes life a discipline of goodness ; creates new 
hopes when all earthly hopes vanish ; and throws over the decay, the 
destruction, of existence, the most gorgeous of all lights ; awakens 
life even in death, and from corruption and decay calls up beauty 
and divinity ; makes an instrument of fortune, and shame the ladder 
of ascent to paradise ; and, far above all combinations of earthly 
hopes, calls up the most delightful visions of palms and amaranths, 
the gardens of the blest, the security of everlasting joys, where the 
sensualist and the sceptic view only gloom, decay, annihilation, and 
despair." 



CONJOINED MEMBERS OF SENTENCES. 83 

ORAL EXERCISE. 

Why are colons inserted between the members of the following sentences ? — 

Every one must, of course, think his own opinions right; for, if 
he thought them wrong, they would no longer be his opinions : but 
there is a wide difference between regarding ourselves as infallible, 
and being firmly convinced of the truth of our creed. 

He sunk to repose where the red heaths are blended 5 one dream 
of his childhood his fancy passed o'er : but his battles are fought, and 
his march it is ended ; the sound of the bagpipe shall wake him no 
more. 

How many things are there which a man cannot, with any face or 
comeliness, say or do himself! A man can scarce allege his own merits 
with modesty, much less extol them ; a man cannot sometimes brook 
to supplicate or beg ; and a number of the like : but all these things 
are graceful in a friend's mouth, which are blushing in a man's own. 



EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert both the semicolon and the colon wherever required in these sentences : — 

The republic may perish the wide arch of our ranged Union may 
fall star by star its glories may expire stone after stone its columns 
and its Capitol may moulder and crumble all other names which 
adorn its annals may be forgotten but, as long as human hearts shall 
anywhere pant, or human tongues shall anywhere plead, for a true, 
rational, constitutional liberty, those hearts shall enshrine the memory, 
and those tongues shall prolong the fame, of George Washington. 

We are not merely to transmit the world as we receive it to teach, 
in a stationary repetition, the arts which we have received as the dove 
builds, this year, just such a nest as was built by the dove that went 
out from the ark, when the waters had abated but we are to apply 
the innumerable discoveries, inventions, and improvements, which 
have been successively made in the world, — and never more than of 
late years, — and combine and elaborate them into one grand system 
of condensed efficacy and quickened vitality, in forming and bringing 
forward our successors. 

As water, whether it be the dew of heaven or the springs of the 
earth, doth scatter and lose itself in the ground, except it be collected 
into some receptacle, where it may by union comfort and sustain itself 
and, for that cause, the industry of man hath framed and made spring- 
heads, conduits, cisterns, and pools, which men have accustomed like- 
wise to beautify and adorn with accomplishments of magnificence and 
state, as well as of use and necessity so knowledge, whether it descend 
from divine inspiration or spring from human sense, would soon perish 
and vanish to oblivion, if it were not preserved in books, traditions, 
conferences, and places appointed, as universities, colleges, and schools, 
for the receipt and comforting the same. 



84 THE COLON. 

RULE in. 

Quotations, Remarks, fyc, formally introduced. 

A colon should be placed before a quotation, a speech, a 
course of reasoning, or an enumeration of articles or subjects, 
when formally introduced. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The air was sweet and plaintive; and the words, literally translated, 
were these: "The winds roared and the rains fell, when the poor white 
man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree." 

2. Let us take, in illustration, three poets, in an ascending scale of in- 
tellectual precedence: Keats, the representative of sensitiveness; Byron, 
of wilfulness ; Shakspeare, of self-direction. 

REMARKS. 

a. By a formal introduction to a quotation, &c., is meant the use 
of any phrase, or mode of expression, drawing the attention of the 
reader to what is about to be said. 

6. When a quotation or remark is short, and closely connected 
with the words preceding it, a comma between the parts is sufficient. 
(See p. 64.) 

c. When quotations or remarks are introduced by one of the con- 
necting words, as, namely, that is, a semicolon before and a comma 
after it are preferable to the colon; as, "I purchased the following 
articles ; namely, tea, sugar, coffee, and raisins." (See p. 78.) 

d. When the subjects or things specified consist of words or 
phrases in apposition with a preceding noun, or with that which 
is equivalent to it, without any formal introduction, a comma and 
a dash are used; as, "Energy and audacity of will characterize all 
ruling men, — statesmen, generals, reformers, orators." 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Say why colons are inserted before quotations, cf c, in the following sentences : — 

All our conduct towards men should be influenced by this precept : 
" Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you." 

The discourse consisted of two parts : in the first was shown the 
necessity of exercise ; in the second, the advantages that would 
result from it. 

When the love of fame acts upon a man of genius, the case ap- 
pears to stand thus : The generality of the world, distinguished by 
the name of readers, observe, with a reluctance not unnatural, a 



QUOTATIONS FORMALLY INTRODUCED. 85 

person raising himself above them. All men have some desire of 
fame j and fame is grounded on comparison. 

Speaking of party zeal, Pope makes this judicious remark : " There 
never was any party, faction, sect, or cabal whatsoever, in which the 
most ignorant were not the most violent; for a bee is not a busier 
animal than a blockhead." 

Be our plain answer this : The throne we honor is the people's 
choice ; the laws we reverence are our brave fathers' legacy ; the faith 
we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and 
die with hope of bliss beyond the grave. 



EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let these sentences be punctuated agreeably to the preceding Rule and 
Remarks : — 

All admire this sublime passage " God said ' Let there be light ; ' 
and there was light." (Rule, and Remark 5.) 

Now, be sure to remember this Unmixed carbonic-acid gas, when 
inhaled, is a deadly poison. 

The infinitive mood is sometimes used as the nominative to a verb 
as "To err" that is, error, "is human." (Remark c; and page 78, 
Remark b.) 

When the Roman historians describe an extraordinary man, this 
always enters into his character as an essential part of it he was of 
incredible industry and of remarkable application. 

The philosopher Malebranche makes this curious remark " It is 
possible that some creatures may think half an hour as long as we do 
a thousand years, or look upon that space of duration which we call a 
minute as an hour, a week, a month, or a whole age." 

Listening intently at the chimney, which communicated with that 
below, I distinctly heard the husband utter these words " Well, come 
now : must we kill them both ? " To which the woman replied 
" Yes ; " and I heard nothing more. (Rule, and Remark b.) 

It is only necessary to make the experiment to find two things 
one, how much useful knowledge can be acquired in a very little 
time ; and the other, how much time can be spared, by good manage- 
ment, out of the busiest day. 

Silvio Pellico, in his excellent work on the " Duties of Men," thus 
remarks " To love our country with truly elevated feeling, we ought 
to begin by supplying it, in ourselves, with citizens, of whom that 
country need not feel ashamed." 

The divine youth lowered the torch. But methought I seized his 
arm, and cried " What wouldst thou do ? " He answered " I would 
extinguish the torch." — I exclaimed " Oh, no ! it spreads a sweet 
light through the darkness of my prison." But he smiled, and said 
" It is the torch of terrestrial life." (Remark b.) 

P 



86 



Sect. IV. — THE PERIOD. 



The Period, or Full Point [ . ], serves to indicate the 
end of a sentence which is assertive * in its nature, and inde- 
pendent of any following sentence. 

RULE I. 

Complete and Independent Sentences. 

When a sentence, not expressive of inquiry or of passion, 
is complete in itself, and unconnected in construction with 
what follows, its termination is marked by a period. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Truth is the basis of every virtue. It is the voice of reason. Let its 

precepts be religiously obeyed. Never transgress its limits. 

2. The right is the supreme good, and includes all other goods. In seeking 

and adhering to it, we secure our true and only happiness. 

REMARKS. 

a. For the mode of pointing short sentences which are slightly 
connected with each other, see p. 76. 

o. A full point is admissible between two parts of a long sentence, 
though they are closely connected in sense by a particle, when either 
of them can be divided into more simple parts, separated from one 
another by a semicolon or a colon; as in the following passage, in 
which the writer treats of Shakspeare : " Other men may have led, 
on the whole, greater and more impressive lives than he ; other men, 
acting on their fellows through the same medium of speech that he 
used, may have expended a greater power of thought, and achieved a 
greater intellectual effect, in one consistent direction ; other men, too 
(though this is very questionable), may have contrived to issue the 

* To the Teacher. — The pupil should understand, that "assertive" is used 
here, not in opposition to negative, but to interrogative or exclamatory. According to 
this sense of the word, the following sentence is assertive: " I was not there; " that 
is, " I assert, or affirm, that I was not there." 



INDEPENDENT SENTENCES. 87 

matter which they did address to the world, in more compact and 
perfect artistic shapes. But no man that ever lived said such splendid 
extempore things on all subjects universally; no man that ever lived 
had the faculty of pouring out, on all occasions, such a flood of the 
richest and deepest language." 

c. When the two larger portions of a continuous passage are joined 
by a conjunction, they may be separated by a period, if several of the 
minor parts are united to each other also by conjunctions. (See p. 82, 
Remark b.) 

d. A full point should be used between two sentences joined by a 
conjunction, though their parts are incapable of being separated by 
a semicolon or a colon, if they do not depend one on the other in 
construction, and are not directly connected ; as, " There are thoughts 
and images, flashing across the mind in its highest moods, to which 
we give the name of inspiration. But whom do we honor with this 
title of the inspired poet ? " From this example, it is evident that 
the kind of point used depends less on the connecting word than on the 
construction and nature of the sentences. 



OEAL EXERCISES. 

Mention the grammatical use of the period, and the reason for inserting that 
point in the sentences which follow: — 

The benefits of conversation greatly depend on the previous attain- 
ments of those who are supposed either to communicate knowledge 
or to receive it. If, therefore, instruction be neglected, conversation 
will grow trifling ; if perverted, dangerous. 

The character of Washington is among the most cherished contem- 
plations of my life. It is a fixed star in the firmament of great names, 
shining, without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, steady, beneficent 
light. It is associated and blended with all our reflections on those 
things which are near and dear to us. 

Be servants of truth and duty, each in his vocation. Be sincere, 
pure in heart, earnest, enthusiastic. A virtuous enthusiasm is always 
self-forgetful and noble : it 'is the only inspiration now vouchsafed to 
man. Blend humility with learning. Ascend above the present in 
place and time. Regard fame only as the eternal shadow of excel- 
lence. Bend in adoration before the right. Cultivate alike the wisdom 
of experience and the wisdom of hope. Mindful of the future, do not 
neglect the past : awed by the majesty of antiquity, turn not with 
indifference from the future. 

This world is full of beauty, — full of innocent gladness. Open 
your inmost sense to all the influences of what is brightest and hap- 
piest in the scenes around you. Let the spirit be clear and transparent, 
to receive and transmit these blessed influences of the Creator's love, 
and send out the light of them on other hearts. Only a pure and 






88 THE PERIOD. 

gentle soul can feel them. Keep yours so that they do not come to 
you in vain. There is impiety in letting all this beauty rise and set 
on us daily unfelt. To sympathize with the loveliness which blooms 
and sparkles in every aspect of this terrestrial paradise is silent 
praise, — that worship of the heart, more audible to the ear of God 
than the chanted litany of the cathedral. 



In accordance with the Rule or with the Remarks (pp. 86-7), say why periods 
are inserted in the following passages : — 

Truly good books are more thaa mines to those who can under- 
stand them. They are the breathings of the great souls of past times. 
Genius is not embalmed in them, as is sometimes said, but lives in 
them perpetually. But we need not many books to answer the great 
ends of reading. A few are better than many ; and a little time, given 
to a faithful study of the few, will be enough to quicken thought and 
enrich the mind. 

In whatever way, and in whatever century, the Homeric poems 
might be created and fashioned, they place before us a time when the 
heroic age was on the decline, or had perhaps already gone by. For 
there are two different worlds which both exist together in the com- 
positions of Homer, — the world of marvels and tradition, which still, 
however, appears to be near and lively before the eyes of the poet ; 
and the living circumstances and present concerns of the world, which 
produced the poet himself. 

This calamity is peculiar to man. The inferior tribes know no- 
thing of it. They obey the laws of their life, and so they have no 
dread of what is to come. The lamb gambols alike through the 
green pastures or to the place of slaughter. Up to the last flutter 
of her wings, the bird ceases not to trill her matins upon the air. 
But the only immortal being upon the earth lives in dread of death. 
The only being to whom death is an impossibility fears every day 
that it will come. And if we analyze the nature of this fear, and 
explore the cause of it, we shall not be at all certain that it will not 
follow the mere natural man into a future life, and have an important 
part in its retributions. 

Legitimate reasoning is impossible without severe thinking; and 
thinking is neither an easy nor an amusing employment. The reader 
who would follow a close reasoner to the summit and absolute princi- 
ple of any one important subject has chosen a chamois-hunter for his 
guide. Our guide will, indeed, take us the shortest way ; will save us 
many a wearisome and perilous wandering, and warn us of many a 
mock road, that had formerly led himself to the brink of chasms and 
precipices, or at least in an idle circle to the spot from whence he 
started. But he cannot carry us on his shoulders : we must strain our 
own sinews as he has strained his, and make firm footing on the naked 
rock for ourselves by the blood of toil from our own feet. 



WORDS ABBREVIATED. 89 

RULE II 

Names, Titles, and other Words, abbreviated. 
The period must be used after every abbreviated word. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The age of MSS. is, in some instances, known by dates inserted in them. 

2. Dr. H.* Marsh, F.R.S., &c., Bishop of Peterborough; b. 1757, d. 1839. 

3. The Plays of Wm.* Shakspeare are sometimes printed from the text of 

Geo.* Stevens, Esq., and Edw.* Malone, Esq. 

REMARKS. 

a. When an abbreviated word ends a sentence, only one period is 
used to show the omission of the letters, and the termination of the 
sentence ; but any other point required by the construction should 
be inserted after the period, as exemplified above in the abbrevia- 
tions "F.R.S., &c," and the "Esq." which appears after the name 
of George Stevens. In such lists of words, however, as contain 
many abbreviations, the period only may be used, if no obscurity, or 
doubtfulness of meaning, would be produced by the omission of the 
grammatical point. 

b. Words derived from a foreign language, and introduced into 
the English, may be written or printed without the period, when 
they are uniformly used as contractions, and pronounced accordingly ; 
as, " Two per cent is but small interest." Here, " cent," the abbre- 
viation of the Latin centum, being now an English word, and pro- 
nounced as such, the period is unnecessary. 

c. Such words as 1st, 2dly, 12mo, 8vo (or 8°), are not, strictly 
speaking, abbreviations ; for the figures represent the first letters of 
each word. The period, therefore, should not be used, unless any 
of these terms come at the end of a sentence. When several subjects 
are specified, or when particular days of a month or various sizes of 
books are often mentioned, words of this form are perhaps unobjec- 
tionable : but, in the usual kinds of composition, it would be better to 
write them in full; as, " The command of the army was given in 1796 
to Napoleon Bonaparte, then in the twenty-seventh year of his age." 

d. Proper names, when shortened and meant so to be pronounced, 
should not, except at the end of a sentence, be written or printed with 
a full point ; as, " On the poet's tombstone were inscribed the words, 
' O rare Ben Jonson ! ' " 

* To the Teacher. — When the name of a person or of a place is abbreviated, the 
period must, as in the examples, be used ; but the pupil should be cautioned against 
writing abbreviations which are so seldom necessary. (See the author's " Treatise 
on English Punctuation," pp. 272-6.) 

8* 



90 THE PERIOD. 

rule m. 

Maries or Figures used instead of Words. 

When either marks or Arabic figures are substituted for 
words, the period should not be used, except at the end of a 
sentence; but the full point is inserted before decimals, and 
between pounds and shillings. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. He borrows $5,000, and agrees to pay interest at 6 per cent per annum. 

2. As an illustration of our remarks, see § 2, ^[ 10, notes * and t« 

3. 8 + 9 + 7x13-5 + 10x6-12x2-^-5 + 21 = 777. 

4. £1. 10s. 6d. sterling is equivalent to $6.78, United-States money. 

REMARK. 

Marks and figures are considered as representative signs, not as 
abbreviations. Hence the propriety of the rule. 



RULE IV. 

Letters used for Figures or Words. 

When numerals are written in characters of the alphabet, 
instead of words or Arabic figures, it is usual to insert periods 
after them in all situations ; and, when employed as dates, to 
separate by periods the portions into which they are divided 
when audibly read. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. In proof of his position, the learned divine referred to Gen. vi. 12, 13. 

Ps. lxv. 2; lxxviii. 39. Acts ii. 17. 1 Cor. i. 29. 

2. In the titlepages of books and in inscriptions, dates are sometimes put in 

capitals, instead of figures; as, M.DCCC.LVI. for 1856. 

REMARK. 

A full point is, in the first example, put after chapters vi., lxv., 
lxxviii., ii., and i. ; and, in the second, after M., DCCC, and LVL, — 
not as being equivalent to the grammatical period, but merely because, 
of all the marks, it is the least offensive to the eye, and has been 
generally employed in such cases. 



ABBREVIATIONS, MARKS, AND FIGURES. 91 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Assign the reasons given in the three preceding Rules, and in the Remarks un- 
der them (pp. 89, 90), for the mode of presenting the abbreviations, marlcs, 
figures, and numeral capitals, which occur in the folloioing sentences : — 

What will £100 amount to in 34 years, at 4| per cent j)er annum, 
compound interest ? (Rule III.) 

The train leaves New York at 9 o'clock, a.m., and 4|, P.M. ; return- 
ing at 10 in the evening. (Rules III. and II.) 

Daniel Defoe (b. 1661, d. 1731) is the first person who deserves 
to be named as a good newspaper-writer. (Rules II. and III.) 

See Rom. iii. 25, and v. 11. 1 Cor. v. 7. Eph. v. 2. 1 John ii. 2. 
Matt. xxvi. 28. (Rules II. and IV.) 

The laws of Phoroneus were instituted 1807 B.C. ; those of Lycur- 
gus, 884 B.C. ; of Draco, 623 B.C. ; of Solon, 587 B.C. (Rule III. ; 
and Rule II., Remark a.) 

But the seasons are not alike in all countries of the same region, 
for the reasons already given. See chap. vi. § xii. ^] 4, p. 530. 
(Rule II.) 

To R. H. Dana, jun., Esq., the well-known author of " Two Years 
before the Mast," the community are greatly indebted. (Rule II., 
and first of Remark a.) 

Titus died in the third year of his reign, and the forty-first year of 
his age, not without suspicion of being poisoned by his brother Domi- 
tian, who succeeded him. (Remark c, under Rule II.) 



Young as he was, the gentleman earned the approbation of his 
friends, and at length became M.D., F.R.S., F.A.S. (Rule II, and 
first of Remark a.) 

Constantine the Great was advanced to the sole dominion of the 
Roman world, A.D. 325, and soon after openly professed the Christian 
faith. (Rules II. and III.) 

Thomas Campbell wrote some beautiful lines on the Scottish king, 
James IV., who fell at the battle of Flodden. (Rule IV. ; and first 
portion of Remark a, under Rule II.) 

The sentiments which chivalry inspired had a wonderful influence 
on manners and conduct during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth 
centuries. (Remark c, under Rule II.) 

" Why so crusty, good sir ? " — " Zounds ! " cries Will, in a taking, 
" who wouldn't be crusty with half a year's baking ? " (Remark d, 
under Rule II.) 

There are only two common principles on which every work of 
imagination must more or less proceed, — 1st, On the expression 
of those feelings which are common to all men of elevated thinking ; 
and, 2d, On those patriotic feelings and associations peculiar to the 
people in whose language it is composed, and on whom it is to exert 
its nearest and most powerful influence. (Remark c, under Rule II.) 



92 



CHAPTER III. 

THE GRAMMATICAL AND RHETORICAL POINTS. 



Besides the Comma, the Semicolon, the Colon, and the 
Period, which are properly regarded as the most essential 
points in bringing out the sense of a written or printed dis- 
course, there are a few other marks, partly grammatical and 
partly rhetorical, so much required in peculiar styles of com- 
position, as to demand, on the part of the learner, a full 
understanding of the principles by which their uses are regu- 
lated. These are, — 

1. The Note of Interrogation ....[?] 

2. The Note of Exclamation ....[!] 

3. The Marks of Parenthesis . . . . ( ) 

4. The Dash [— ] 

« 

In classifying these points as both grammatical and rhetori- 
cal, we mean to imply, not that those which have come under 
consideration afford no facilities in delivery, but that the Marks 
of Interrogation, Exclamation, and Parenthesis, and the Dash, 
have a more direct bearing on that art. They are rhetorical, 
so far as they help to exhibit the force. and intensity of a style 
which is rhetorical in its structure ; but they are also gram- 
matical, because they often serve to indicate, in connection 
with other marks, the nature, construction, and sense of the 
passages in which they occur. 



93 



Sect. I. — THE NOTES OF INTERROGATION 
AND EXCLAMATION. 



1. The Note of Interrogation [ ? ] shows that a 
question is denoted by the words to which it is annexed. 

2. The Note op Exclamation [ ! ] indicates passion 
or emotion. 



E E M A K K. 



The notes of interrogation and exclamation do not mark the rela- 
tive pauses of the voice ; occupying, as they do, sometimes the place 
of the comma or the semicolon, and sometimes that of the colon or 
the period. But they are usually put at the end of sentences, and 
are equivalent to a full point ; requiring, therefore, in the majority of 
instances, the word that follows to begin with a capital letter, as after 
the period. 



RULE I. 

Expressions in the Form of Questions. 

The note of interrogation is placed at the end of every 
question.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Why, for so many a year, has the poet or the philosopher wandered 
amid the fragments of Athens or of Eome ; and paused, with strange and 
kindling feelings, amid their broken columns, their mouldering temples, 
their deserted plains ? It is because their day of glory is past. 

2. How can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble who only 
believes, that, after a short term on the stage of existence, he is to sink into 
oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever? 

REMARKS. 

a. The first of these passages exemplifies a sentence expressive of 
direct inquiry ; the second, one that is assertive in its meaning, but 
interrogative in its structure or form. 

* To the Teacher. — It should be explained to the pupil, that this rule applies 
to all questions, whether they require answers, or are put, merely for the sake of 
emphasis, in an interrogative form. 



94 THE NOTE OF INTERROGATION. 

b. The mark of interrogation should not be used when it is only 
affirmed that a question has been asked, and the expression denoting 
inquiry is put in any other shape than that of a direct question ; as, 
" I was asked if I would stop for dinner." If put in the interrogative 
form, this sentence would be read and punctuated according to the 
rule : " I was asked, ' Will you stop for dinner ? ' " 

c. In some instances, however, a question may be assertive in its 
form, but interrogative in its sense ; as, " You will stop for dinner ? " 
In order to distinguish a sentence of this kind from one that is affir- 
mative both in form and signification, it is obvious that the note of 
interrogation should be employed. 

d. It is a common error to make one interrogative mark represent 
several successive questions, which, though connected in sense, are in 
construction distinct and separate; and to substitute semicolons or 
dashes where notes of interrogation should be used. In the following 
passage, therefore, each question should be distinguished by its appro- 
priate mark, and not by dashes, which are used in the original: 
" What is civilization ? Where is it ? What does it consist in ? By 
what is it excluded ? Where does it commence ? Where does it end ? 
By what sign is it known ? How is it denned ? In short, what does 
it mean ? " 

e. When, however, the expressions denoting inquiry cannot be 
separated, and read alone, without materially injuring the sense, one 
mark of interrogation, placed at the end of all the questions, will be 
sufficient ; as, " Ah ! whither now are fled those dreams of greatness j 
those busy, bustling days ; those gay-spent, festive nights ; those veer- 
ing thoughts, lost between good and ill, that shared thy life ? " 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

After mentioning the distinctive uses of the notes of interrogation and exclama- 
tion, say xvhy interrogative marks are inserted in these sentences : — 

Are there not seasons of spring in the moral world ? and is not the 
present age one of them ? 

Who can look only at the muscles of the hand, and doubt that 
man was made to work ? 

The past, the mighty past, the parent of the present, — where is 
it? What is it? 

Are the palaces of kings to be regarded with more interest than the 
humbler roofs that shelter millions of human beings ? 

Who would tear asunder the best affections of the heart, the noblest 
instincts of our nature ? 

Have you more liberty allowed you to wound your neighbor's cha- 
racter than you have to shed his blood ? 

What but the ever-living power of literature and religion preserved 
the light of civilization, and the intellectual stores of the past, undi- 



INTERROGATORY EXPRESSIONS. 95 

minished in Greece, during the long- and dreary ages of the decline 
and downfall of the Roman empire ? 

A gaudy verbosity is always eloquence in the opinion of him who 
writes it ; but what is the effect on the reader ? 

Greece, indeed, fell ; but how did she fall ? Did she fall like Baby- 
lon ? Did she fall " like Lucifer, never to hope again " ? * 

Bion, seeing a person who was tearing the hair of his head for sor- 
row, said, "Does this man think that baldness is a remedy for grief?" 

Is the celestial fire which glowed in their hearts for ever quenched, 
and nought but ashes left to mingle with the earth, and be blown 
around the world ? 

You say you will repent in some future period of time ; but are you 
sure of arriving at that period of time ? Have you one hour in your 
hand ? Have you one minute at your disposal ? 



Show how the Bale or the Remarks (pp. 93-4) will apply to the punctuation of 
these sentences : — 

" Honest man," says I, " be so good as to inform me whether I am 
in the way to Mirlington." 

The question is not what we might actually wish with our present 
views, but what with juster views we ought to wish. 

When a king asked Euclid the mathematician whether he could 
not explain his art to him in a more compendious manner, he was 
answered that there was no royal way to geometry. 

" The sun not yet set, Thomas ? " — " Not quite, sir. It blazes 
through the trees on the hill yonder, as if their branches were all 
on fire." 

The Phoenicians invented letters ; but what did they do with them ? 
Apply them to the record, the diffusion, transmission, and preservation 
of knowledge? 

You do not expect me to leave my family, when we are all so com- 
fortable, and brave the perils of a long passage and sickly climate, for 
the mere chance of getting gold ? 

Can gray hairs make folly venerable ? and is not their period to be 
reserved for retirement and meditation ? 

Are the stars, that gem the vault of the heavens above us, mere 
decorations of the night, or suns and centres of planetary systems ? 

Where be your gibes now ; your gambols ; your songs ; your flashes 
of merriment, that were wont to set the table in a roar ? 

Are you conscious of a like increase in wisdom, — -in pure endeavors 
to make yourself and other men what you and they ought to be ? 

Is there any man so swelled by the conceit of his union with the 
true church, as to stand apart, and say, " I am holier than thou " ? * 

* To the Teacher. — See the author's " Treatise on English Punctuation," p. 156, 
Remark /,• and p. 161, Remark e. 



96 THE NOTE OP EXCLAMATION. 

RULE n. 

Expressions indicating Passion or Emotion. 

The note of exclamation is put after terms and expressions 
denoting an ardent wish, admiration, wonder, contempt, or any 
other strong emotion. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Would that we had maintained our humble state, and continued to live 

in peace and poverty ! 

2. How sweet are the slumbers of him who can lie down on his pillow, and 

review the transactions of every day, without condemning himself ! 

3. What a fearful handwriting upon the walls that surround the deeds of 

darkness, duplicity, and sensual crime ! 

4. Away, all ye Csesars and Napoleons ! to your own dark and frightful 

domains of slaughter and misery ! 

5. Hurra, hurra! There goes our Jimmy! Come out here, you little 

blunderhead ! 

REMARKS. 

a. Generally speaking, only those sentences, clauses, or phrases, 
should have the note of exclamation, which demand a fervid, pas- 
sionate mode of delivery ; or which commence with any of the inter- 
jections; with verbs in the imperative mood, adverbs, or prepositions, 
uttering a stern command or forcibly calling attention ; with the 
adverbs Tiow, ivhat, unless they denote affirmation or inquiry ; or with 
the case of address, when used in a solemn style, or emphasized by the 
use of the word O. 

b. Between the interjections O and oh there exists an essential 
difference, which is frequently neglected even by some of our best 
writers. The former is properly prefixed to an expression in a direct 
address ; but the latter ought never to be so employed. should be 
used without the mark of exclamation immediately after it ; but oil, 
sometimes with and sometimes without it, according to the construc- 
tion and sense of the passage in which the word occurs. The following 
sentences will illustrate the difference spoken of, and the true mode 
of punctuation : — 

1. The heavens and earth, Lord! proclaim thy boundless power. 

2. When, my countrymen ! will you begin to exert your vigor? 

3. blessed spirit, who art freed from earth ! rejoice. 

4. Oh ! nothing is further from my thoughts than to deceive you. 

5. Oh, what a glorious part you may act on the theatre of humanity! 

6. Oh that all classes of society were both enlightened and virtuous ! * 

* To the Teacher. — The reasons for the mode of pointing adopted in these 
examples are assigned in " Treatise on English Punctuation," pp. 160-1. 



EXCLAMATORY EXPRESSIONS. 97 

c. Wherever interjections, or any other words indicative of deep 
emotion or fervid passion, are not meant to be significant in them- 
selves, but to form part of a phrase, clause, or sentence, it is recom- 
mended that the mark of exclamation be put, not after each of these 
words, but only at the end of each expression ; as, " Ah me!" — 
" Alas, my noble boy ! that thou shouldst die ! " — " All hail, ye 
patriots brave ! " — " Rouse, ye Romans ! rouse, ye slaves ! " * 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Why are notes of exclamation inserted in the following examples ? — 

Alas, poor Yorick ! — Alas for the man who has not learned to work ! 
We shall be so happy ! — Live, live, ye incomparable pair ! 
Behold the daughter of Innocence ! — How peaceful is the grave ! 
O Freedom ! thou art not, as poets dream, a fair young girl. 
How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood ! 
All hail, thou noble land, our fathers' native soil ! 
Praise to the men for whose writings I am the better and wiser ! 
What! kill thy friend, who lent thee money, for asking thee for it! 
The secret I implore : out with it ! speak ! discover ! utter ! 
Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness ! 
Down, soothless insulter ! I trust not the tale. — Ha, ha, ha ! 
Charge, Chester, charge ! on, Stanley, on ! — Out, out, Lucetta ! 
Oh the great deep of suffering in every human breast ! 



Show how RemarJcs b and c apply to the punctuation of these sentences : — 

O Providence ! how many poor insects of thine are exposed to be 
trodden to death in each path ! 

This, O men of Athens ! my duty prompted me to represent to you 
on this occasion. 

Oh ! you are wounded, my lord. — Oh ! many a dream was in the 
ship an hour before her death. 

Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of time ! Sarmatia fell, unwept, 
without a crime. 

Oh that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away 
their brains ! 

Alas for his poor family ! — Alas that folly and falsehood should be 
so hard to grapple with ! 

Alas, poor creature ! I will soon revenge this cruelty upon the 
author of it. 

* To the Teacher. — The learner should be strongly impressed with the impro- 
priety of inserting marks of exclamation in those parts of his composition where the 
form of his sentences or the nature of his conceptions will not permit their use. A 
mode of punctuation which is characterized by its simplicity will indirectly help him 
to avoid affectation and quackery in style. 

9 



98 INTERROGATIVE AND EXCL AMATIVE MARKS. 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let notes of interrogation and exclamation be inserted in the folloiving sentences, 
agreeably to the principles laid down in the two preceding Rules, and the 
Remarks under them (pp. 93-7) : — 

How often, in an instant, doth a hand unseen shift the scene of the 
world — Alas those happy days are gone. (Rule II.) 

Does not the mind, after all, spread its own hue over all the scenes 
of life (Rule I.) 

On you and on your children be the peril of the innocent blood 
which shall be shed this day (Rule II.) 

Why is it that the names of Howard and Thornton and Clarkson 
and Wilberforce will be held in everlasting remembrance (Rule I.) 

Peace to their manes May the turf He lightly on their breast, 
and the verdure over their grave be as perpetual as their memories 
(Rule H.) 

Is he who triumphed in the hope of immortality inferior to the 
worm, his companion in the tomb Will light never rise on the long 
night of the grave (Rule I.) 

What a piece of work is man How noble in reason how infinite 
in faculties in form and moving how express and admirable in action 
how like an angel in apprehension how like a god (Rule H.) 

Triptolemus asked Mordaunt, with a voice which faltered with ap- 
prehension, whether he thought there was any danger. (Remark 6, 
under Rule I.) 

O John Milton thou art among the angels and the seraphs that 
were once thy glorious song ; and this world is dear to them for what 
thou thyself wert in it. (Rule II. and Remark b.) 

You do not think, I hope, that I will join in conversation with such 
a man, or that I will so far betray my character as to give countenance 
to such desperate proceedings (Remark c, under Rule I.) 

How happy the station which every minute furnishes opportunities 
of doing good to thousands how dangerous that which every moment 
exposes to the injury of millions (Rule II.) 

Whither shall I turn Wretch that I am to what place shall I be- 
take myself Shall I go to the capitol — alas it is overflowed with my 
brother's blood; or shall I retire to my house (Both Rules.) 

Why do you envy yonder earl, by whose estate I pass He cannot 
see farther into this magnificence, or enjoy it more, than you can. 
(Rule!) 

Oh the littleness of man's heart, capable of loving only by units and 
in successive emotions, and therefore contracting the infinite heart of 
God to the narrowness of his own (Rule II. and Remark 6.) 

What words can declare the immeasurable worth of books what 
rhetoric set forth the importance of that great invention which diffused 
them over the whole earth, to glad its myriads of minds (Rule I. and 
Remark d.) 



99 



Sect. IL — MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. 



Marks of Parenthesis consist of two curved lines ( ), 
which serve to indicate that an expression is inserted in the 
body of a sentence, with which it has no connection in sense 
or in construction.* 

REMARK. 

These two curves are sometimes called parentheses, or a paren- 
thesis, — the same word that indicates the fund of phrase or clause 
which they enclose. But, as this designation tends to produce ambi- 
guity or confusion of ideas, it would be better to name them " marks 
of parenthesis," and to restrict the term "parenthesis" to signify, 
what it properly means, those words which are put between such 
portions of a sentence as are intimately connected in sense and in 
construction. 



RULE. 

Words thrown obliquely into the Body of a Sentence. 

The marks of parenthesis enclose only those words which 
break the unity of the sentence into which they are thrown, 
and which may therefore be omitted without injury to its sense 
or its construction.* 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The Egyptian style of architecture (see Dr. Pocock, not his discourses, 

but his prints) was apparently the mother of the Greek. 

2. If we exercise right principles (and we cannot have them unless we 

exercise them), they must be perpetually on the increase. 



* To the Teacher. — The teacher -will prohably find it necessary to point out to 
his class the distinction between a parenthesis and a mere parenthetical or interme- 
diate expression. This he may do by comparing Definition IX., on page 5, with the 
explanation, given in the present page, of the use of the parenthetical marks. 



100 MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. 



BEMAKKS. 



a. If a point would not be required between those parts of a sen- 
tence in which a parenthesis occurs, none should be used along with 
the parenthetical marks ; as, " Are you still (I fear you are) far from 
being comfortably settled ? " Here these marks are unaccompanied 
by any point, because, in its simple state, the sentence would be with- 
out it ; as, " Are you still far from being comfortably settled ? " 

6. But, when a comma or any other point is necessary where the 
incidental clause is thrown in, it should be placed after the last mark 
of parenthesis ; as, " Pride, in some disguise or other (often a secret 
to the proud man himself), is the most ordinary spring of action 
among men." 

c. Sometimes the parenthetical portion of a sentence is designed 
to express either inquiry or an emotion of wonder, astonishment, 
delight, &c, when the main passage is in its nature affirmative. In 
cases of this kind, the point required, if there were no parenthesis, is 
to be inserted before the first mark under consideration, and that 
which belongs to the enclosed portion before the second ; as, " While 
the Christian desires the approbation of his fellow-men, (and why 
should he not desire it ?) he disdains to receive their good-will by dis- 
honorable means." 

d. Before the first parenthetical mark, however, no point should be 
used, if not required in case the parenthetical words were omitted 5 
as, " The rocks (hard-hearted varlets !) melted not into tears, nor did 
the trees hang their heads in silent sorrow." 

e. In reports of speeches, where a particular reference is sometimes 
made either to the present or a former speaker, or where the sense 
of the auditors is expressed by approbation or disapprobation, it is 
usual to enclose the inserted words within marks of parenthesis ; as, 
" The lucid exposition which has been made of the object of the meet- 
ing by the Right Reverend Bishop (M'llvaine) lightens the task of 
recommending it to an audience like this. I do not know but I should 
act more advisably to leave his cogent and persuasive^ statement to 
produce its natural effect, without any attempt on my part to enforce 
it. (No.) » 

f. Sometimes marks of parenthesis are used to enclose an expres- 
sion standing apart from the context, and added by way of explanation, 
or in reference to some other passage. Examples of this kind may be 
seen in the "Exercises to be written," which occur in the present 
volume. The same marks are also used, particularly in dictionaries 
and in didactic and scientific works, to enclose the Arabic figures or 
the letters of the alphabet, when enumerating definitions of words, 
or subjects treated of; as, " (A.) The unlawfulness of suicide appears 
from the following considerations : (1.) Suicide is unlawful on account 
of its general consequences. (2.) Because it is the duty of the self- 



WORDS THROWN INTO A SENTENCE. 101 

murderer to live in the world, and be useful in it. (3.) Because he 
deprives himself of all further opportunity to prepare for happiness 
in a future state." But, unless it is necessary to distinguish the let- 
ters or figures from the simpler modes of specification, the marks of 
parenthesis are better omitted. 

g. "When a parenthetical expression is short, or coincides with the 
rest of the sentence, the marks of parenthesis may be omitted, and 
commas used instead; as, "Every star, if we may judge by analogy, 
is a sun to a system of planets." The intervening words, says I, says 
lie, and others of a similar character, should all be written only with 
commas. (See p. 34, Remark «.) 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Show how the Rule and Hie Remarks (pp. 99, 100) apply to the punctuation of 
the following sentences : — 

I have seen charity (if charity it may be called) insult with an air 
of pity. 

The Tyrians were the first (if we may believe what is told us by 
writers of high antiquity) who learned the art of navigation. 

Know, then, this truth (enough for man to know) : Virtue alone is 
happiness below. 

Whether writing prose or verse (for a portion of the work is in 
prose), this author knows both what to blot, and when to stop. 

Do we, then (for this one question covers the whole ground of the 
subject), — do we observe the strict conditions of our vast and unsur- 
passably momentous work ? 

The most remote country, towards the East, of which the Greeks 
had any definite knowledge (and their acquaintance with it was, at 
the best, extremely imperfect), was India. 

I am so ill at present, (an illness of my own procuring last night : 
who is perfect ?) that nothing but your very great kindness could 
make me write. 

She had managed this matter so well, (oh, how artful a woman 
she was !) that my father's heart was gone before I suspected it was 
in danger. 

Perhaps (for who can guess the effects of chance ?) here Hunt may 
box, or Mahomet may dance. 

Consider (and may the consideration sink deep into your hearts ! ) 
the fatal consequences of a wicked life. 

Yet, in the mere outside of nature's works, if I may so express 
myself, there is a splendor and a magnificence to which even untutored 
minds cannot attend without great delight. 

" You say," said the judge, " that the bag you lost had a hundred 
and ten dollars in it ? " — " Yes, sir." — " Then," replied the judge, 
" this cannot be your bag, as it contained but a hundred dollars." 

9* 



102 MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Introduce the marks of parenthesis into their respective places: — 

Not a few are the incitements of the working classes would they 
were greater ! to the accumulation of property, and even to the invest- 
ment of land. (Remark d.) 

There is nothing that we call a good which may not be converted 
into a curse that is, nothing that is providential or external, and not 
of the soul ; nor is there an evil of that nature which is not thoroughly 
a good. (Remark b.) 

Under God, and by those spiritual aids which are ever vouchsafed 
in exact proportion to our endeavors to obtain them, how gracious 
and glorious is this truth ! we are morally and religiously, as well as 
intellectually, the makers of ourselves. (Remark c.) 

Sir, T hope the big gentleman that has just sat down Mr. Francis 
Archer will do me the justice to believe, that, as I receive little satis- 
faction from being offended, so I am not sedulous to find out cause 
for offence. Applause. (Remark e.) 

There is a power have you not felt it ? in the presence, conversa- 
tion, and example of a man of strong principle and magnanimity, to 
lift us, at least for the moment, from our vulgar and tame habits of 
thought, and to kindle some generous aspirations after the excellence 
which we were made to attain. (Remarks d and g.) 



I mention these instances, not to undervalue science it would be 
folly to attempt that ; for science, when true to its name, is true know- 
ledge, but to show that its name is sometimes wrongfully assumed, 
and that its professors, when not guided by humility, may prove but 
misleading counsellors. (Remark 6.) 

No lesson of a practical kind and all lessons ought to be practical 
requires to be so often repeated as that which enjoins upon the mind 
a state of passivity ; for what an electrical thing is it ! How does it 
dart forth after this and that, flitting from sweet to sweet for it never 
willingly tastes of bitter things, and " feeding itself without fear " ! 
(Remarks a and b.) 

Inquiring the road to Mirlington, I addressed him by the name of 
Honesty. The fellow whether to show his wit before his mistress, or 
whether he was displeased with my familiarity, I cannot tell directed 
me to follow a part of my face which, I was well assured, could be no 
guide to me, and that other parts would follow of consequence. 
(Remarks a and 5.) 

Socrates has often expressly said, that he considered human life in 
general and without doubt the state of the world in his day must 
have eminently tended to make him so consider it in the light of an 
imprisonment of the soul, or of a malady under which the nobler 
spirit is condemned to linger, until it be set free and purified by the 
healing touch of death. (Remark a.) 






103 



Sect. HI. — THE DASH. 



The Dash [ — ] is a straight horizontal line, used for the 
purposes specified in the following rules.* 

RULE I. 

Broken and Epigrammatic Sentences. 

The dash is used where a sentence breaks off abruptly, and 
the subject is changed ; where the sense is suspended, and is 
continued after a short interruption; where a significant or 
long pause is required ; and where there is an unexpected 
or epigrammatic turn in the sentiment. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Was there ever a bolder captain of a more valiant band? Was there 

ever But I scorn to boast. 

2. Then the eye of a child — who can look unmoved into that " well unde- 

fined," in which heaven itself seems to be reflected? 

3. You have given the command to a person of illustrious birth, of ancient 

family, of innumerable statues, but — of no experience. 

4. Here lies the geeat False marble, where ? Nothing but sor- 

did dust lies here. 

REMARKS. 

a. In the preceding examples, no grammatical point is used with 
the dash, because, in the first two and the last one, none would seem 
to be required if the sentences broken off had been finished ; and 
because, in the third, the word " but," before the mark showing the 



* To the Teacher. — There is perhaps no point of whose uses a knowledge is 
more requisite than those of the dash, and none respecting which there is a greater 
amount of ignorance: some writers unceremoniously introducing it every where to 
supply the place of the comma, the semicolon, or the colon; and others as impolitely 
banishing it from that province which cannot be so well occupied by any other point. 
The principles of its application are not, indeed, difficult to understand ; but they 
should not be hurried over, as if the employment or rejection of the dash were a 
matter of no importance. 



104 THE DASH. 

suspensive pause, is intimately connected in sense with the phrase that 
follows it. But, if the parts of a sentence, between which the pause 
of suspension is to be made, are susceptible of being grammatically 
divided, their proper point should be inserted before the dash ; as, 
" He sometimes counsel takes, — and sometimes snuff." 

b. Passages of the following kind, in which an unfinished question 
is taken up immediately afterwards in an alternate form, may be 
brought under the operation of the present rule ; the dash, with a 
comma before it, being placed after the commencing portion of the 
sentence : " Who could best describe to you a country, — he who had 
travelled its entire surface, or he who had just landed on its shores ? 
Who could best breathe into you the spirit of Christian love, — he 
who had scarcely learned to control his own passions, or Jesus of 
Nazareth ? " 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Why are dashes inserted in the folloioing sentences 1 — 

Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, any thing 
but — live for it. 

Greece, Carthage, Rome, — where are they ? The pages of his- 
tory — how is it that they are so dark and sad ? 

If you will give me your attention, I will show you But stop ! 

I do not know that you wish to see. 

Leonidas, Cato, Phocion, Tell, — one peculiarity marks them all : 
they dared and suffered for their native land. 

If thou art he, so much respected once ■ But, oh, how fallen ! 

how degraded!. 

The good woman was allowed by everybody, except her husband, 
to be a sweet-tempered lady — when not in liquor. 

I take — eh ! oh ! — as much exercise — eh ! — as I can, Madam 
Gout. You know my sedentary state. 

Hast thou — But how shall I ask a question which must bring 
tears into so many eyes ? 

There are several methods of humbling a proud man ; but the best 
is to — take no notice of him. 

" Sir, I beg leave to tell you, that you are " " What am I, 

sir ? How dare " " Dare, sir ! " 

Come, Gaza, Ashdod, come ! Let Ekron boast, and Askelon 
rejoice ; for Saul is — nothing. 

" Lord Cardinal ! if thou think'st on heaven's bliss, hold up thy 
hand ; make signal of thy hope." — He dies, and makes no sign. 

" I plunged right into the debate, and " " Did not say a 

word to the point, of course." 

Horror burst the bands of sleep ; but my feelings Words 

are too weak, too powerless, to express them. 



BROKEN AND EPIGRAMMATIC SENTENCES. 105 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

In the following sentences, insert dashes wherever necessary: — 

" I forgot my " " Your portmanteau ? " hastily interrupted Henry. 
" The same." 

To reward men according to their worth alas ! the perfection of 
this, we know, amounts to the millennium. 

Thou dost not mean No, no : thou wouldst not have me make a 
trial of my skill upon my child ! 

At church, in silks and satins new, with hoop of monstrous size, 
she never slumbered in her pew but when she shut her eyes. 

" Please your honor," quoth Trim, " the Inquisition is the vilest " 
" Prithee, spare thy description, Trim. I hate the very name of it," 
said my father. 

Frankness, suavity, tenderness, benevolence, breathed through their 
exercise. And his family But he is gone : that noble heart beats 
no more. 

He suffered, but his pangs are o'er ; enjoyed, but his delights are 
fled ; had friends, his friends are now no more ; and foes, his foes 
are dead. 

When the poor victims were bayoneted, clinging round the knees 
of the soldiers, would my friend But I cannot pursue the strain of 
my interrogation. 



Approaching the head of the bed, where my poor young com- 
panion, with throat uncovered, was lying, with one hand the monster 
grasped his knife, and with the other ah, cousin ! with the other he 
seized a ham. 

What beside a few mouldering and brittle ruins, which time is 
imperceptibly touching down into dust, what, beside these, remains 
of the glory, the grandeur, the intelligence, the supremacy, of the 
Grecian republics, or the empire of Rome ? 

The people lifted up their voices, and blessed the good St. Nicholas ; 
and, from that time forth, the sage Van Kortland was held in more 
honor than ever for his great talent at dreaming, and was pronounced 
a most useful citizen and a right good man when he was asleep. 

In thirty years the western breeze had not fanned his blood : he 
had seen no sun, no moon, in all that time ; nor had the voice of 
friend or kinsman breathed through his lattice. His children but 
here my heart began to bleed, and I was forced to go on with another 
part of the portrait. 

I now solemnly declare, that, so far as personal happiness is con- 
cerned, I would infinitely prefer to pass my life as a member of the 
bar, in the practice of my profession, according to the ability which 
God has given me, to that life which I have led, and in which I have 
held places of high trust, honor, respectability, and obloquy. 



106 THE DASH. 

rule n. 

A Concluding Clause on whicli other Expressions depend. 

A dash should be used after several words or expressions, 
when these constitute a nominative which is broken off, and 
resumed in a summary form ; and after a long member, or a 
series of phrases or clauses, when they lead to an important 
conclusion. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. That patriotism which, catching its inspirations from the immortal 
God, and leaving at an immeasurable distance below all lesser, grovelling, 
personal interests and feelings, animates and prompts to deeds of self- 
sacrifice, of valor, of devotion, and of death itself, — that is public virtue; 
that is the noblest, the sublimest, of all public virtues. 

2. The infinity of worlds, and the narrow spot of earth which we call our 
country or our home ; the eternity of ages, and the few hours of life ; the 
almighty power of God, and human nothingness, — it is impossible to think 
of these in succession, without a feeling like that which is produced by the 
sublimest eloquence. 

REMARK. 

Instead of a comma and a dash, which are used in these examples 
immediately before the finishing clause of the sentence, some writers 
would insert a colon; but the punctuation adopted above seems to 
exhibit the construction and sense to more advantage, and to be more 
in harmony with the rhetorical character of such passages. 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

State why dashes are inserted in the following sentences : — 

At school and at college, the great vision of Rome broods over the 
mind with a power which is never suspended or disputed : her great 
men, her beautiful legends, her history, the height to Avhich she rose, 
and the depth to which she fell, — these make up one half of a stu- 
dent's ideal world. 

When ambition practises the monstrous doctrine of millions made 
for individuals, their playthings, to be demolished at their caprice ; 
sporting wantonly with the rights, the peace, the comforts, the exist- 
ence, of nations, as if their intoxicated pride would, if possible, make 
God's earth itself their football, — is not the good man indignant? 

The affections which spread beyond ourselves, and stretch far into 
futurity ; the workings of mighty passions, which seem to arm the soul 
with an almost superhuman energy; the innocent and irrepressible 



A CONCLUDING CLAUSE. 107 

joy of infancy ; the bloom and buoyancy and dazzling hopes of youth ; 
the throbbings of the heart, when it first wakes to love, and dreams 
of a happiness too vast for earth ; woman, with her beauty and grace 
and gentleness, and fulness of feeling, and depth of affection, and 
blushes of purity, and the tones and looks which only a mother's 
heart can inspire, — these are all poetical. 

That gush of human sympathy which brought tears into Charles 
Lamb's eyes, when he mingled in the living tide which pours through 
the streets of London, and he felt his heart beat responsive to the warm 
pulse of joy as it throbbed past him, — what was it but the vivid con- 
sciousness of God; the breath of the Father, softening the bosom over 
which it swept, and filling it with his own merciful tenderness towards 
the great family of man ? 



EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let dashes be introduced into these sentences, in accordance with the Ride: — 

The collision of mind with mind ; the tug and strain of intellectual 
wrestling ; the tension of every mental fibre, as the student reaches 
forth to take hold of the topmost pinnacle of thought ; the. shout of 
joy that swells up from gladsome voices, as he stands upon the sum- 
mit, with error under his feet, these make men. 

The modest flower, nestling in the meadow-grass ; the happy tree, 
as it laughs and riots in the wind ; the moody cloud, knitting its brow 
in solemn thought; the river that has been flowing all night long; 
the sound of the thirsty earth, as it drinks and relishes the rain, these 
things are as a full hymn when they flow from the melody of nature, 
but an empty rhythm when scanned by the finger of art. 

Wherever on this earth an understanding is active to know and 
serve the truth ; wherever a heart beats with kind and pure and gene- 
rous affections ; wherever a home spreads its sheltering wing over 
husband and wife, and parent and child, there, under every diversity 
of outward circumstance, the true worth and dignity and peace of 
man's soul are within reach of all. 

When, at God's decree, human greatness from all its state falls to 
the ground like a leaf; when death, usually doing its work in silence, 
seems to cry out over the bier of the high and distinguished ; when 
some figure, that has moved with imposing tread in our sight, towers 
still more out of the dark valley ; when the drapery of mourning unrolls 
itself from private chambers to line the streets, darken the windows, 
and hang the heavens in black ; when the stroke of the bell adds a 
sabbath solemnity to the days of the week, and the boom of guns, 
better fired over the dead than at the living, echoes all through our 
territory ; while the wheels of business stop, and labor leans its head, 
and trade foregoes its gains, and communication, save on one theme, 
ceases, we may well ask the meaning and cause. 



108 THE DASH. 

RULE HI. 

Words Repeated Rhetorically.* 

The dash is used before a word or phrase repeated in an 
exclamatory or an emphatic manner. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Shall I, who was born, I might almost say, but certainly brought up, 
in the tent of my father, that most excellent general — shall I, the conqueror 
of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations, but of the Alps 
themselves — shall I compare myself with this half-year captain ? — a 
captain, before whom should one place the two armies without their ensigns, 
I am persuaded he would not know to which of them he is consul. 

2. Newton was a Christian ; — Newton ! whose mind burst forth from the 
fetters cast by nature on our finite conceptions ; — Newton ! whose science 
was truth, and the foundation of whose knowledge of it was philosophy; 
not those visionary and arrogant presumptions which too often usurp its 
name, but philosophy resting on the basis of mathematics, which, like 
figrxres, cannot lie ; — Newton ! who earned the line and rule to the utmost 
barriers of creation, and explored the principles by which, no doubt, all 
created matter is held together and exists. 

REMARKS. 

a. Before the iteration of the words " shall I," in the first example, 
dashes are put without any other point, to show that what precedes 
is unfinished. After the expression, " this half-year captain," a note 
of interrogation is placed, because the question terminates here. 

b. In the second example, semicolons are introduced before the 
dashes, in order to separate with greater clearness the various members, 
some of which are divisible into clauses. But, in the more simple 
kinds of sentences (as in the first four under the Oral Exercise, p. 109), 
a comma will be sufficient before the clash. 

c. After expressions of the kind under consideration, it is seldom 
necessary to put the exclamatory mark ; as, " Edmund Burke was a 
man who added to the pride, not merely of his country, but of his 
species ; — a man who robed the very soul of inspiration in the 
splendors of a pure and overpowering eloquence." The construction 
of the language used, and the nature of the sentiment, will readily 
indicate what point, if any, should be inserted. 

* To the Teacher. — As a word or phrase, when repeated in a rhetorical manner, 
is called by some elocutionists an echo, the teacher may, if he thinks proper, adopt 
the term. 



WORDS REPEATED RHETORICALLY. 109 

d. When a parenthesis is introduced before an iterated expression, 
the dash should both precede and follow the parenthetical marks ; 
as,— 

When I am old — (and, oh, how soon 
Will life's sweet morning yield to noon, 
And noon's broad, fervid, earnest light 
Be shaded in the solemn night ! 
Till like a story well-nigh told 
Will seem my life, when I am old), — 
When I am old, this breezy earth 
Will lose for me its voice of mirth ; 
The streams will have an undertone 
Of sadness not by right their own. 



OBAL EXERCISE. 

Explain the reason why dashes are inserted in these sentences : — 

You speak like a boy, — like a boy who thinks the old, gnarled 
oak can be twisted as easily as the young sapling. 

Never is virtue left without sympathy, — sympathy dearer and 
tenderer for the misfortune that has tried it, and proved its fidelity. 

There are, indeed, I acknowledge, to the honor of the human 
kind, — there are persons in the world who feel that the possession 
of good dispositions is their best reward. 

All great discoveries, not purely accidental, will be gifts to insight ; 
and the true man of science will be he who can best ascend into the 
thoughts of God, — he who burns before the throne in the clearest, 
purest, mildest light of reason. 

Man is led to the conception of a Power and an Intelligence superior 
to his own, and adequate to the production and maintenance of all 
that he sees in nature ; — a Power and Intelligence to which he may 
well apply the term " infinite." 

Can Parliament be so dead to its dignity and duty as to give its 
sanction to measures thus obtruded and forced upon them ? — mea- 
sures, my lords, which have reduced this late-flourishing kingdom to 
scorn and contempt. 

He hears the raven's cry ; and shall he not hear, and will he not 
avenge, the wrongs that his nobler animals suffer ? — wrongs that cry 
out against man, from youth to age, in the city and in the field, by 
the way and by the fireside. 

Then I told what a tall, upright, graceful person their great-grand- 
mother Field once was, and how in her youth she was esteemed the 
best dancer — (here Alice's little right foot played an involuntary 
movement, till, upon my looking grave, it desisted) — the best dancer, 
I was saying, in the county, till a cruel disease, called a cancer, came, 
and bowed her down with pain ; but it could never bend her good 
spirits, or make them stoop, but they were still upright, because she 
was so good and religious. 

10 



110 THE DASH. 

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let dashes be inserted before the echoes in the following passages : — 

The voices in the waves are always whispering to Florence, in their 
ceaseless murmuring, of love; of love eternal and illimitable, not 
bounded by the confines of this world or by the end of time, but 
ranging still, beyond the sea, beyond the sky, to the invisible country 
far away. 

We must take a wakeful and active interest, that seeks them out ; 
an interest that examines into the causes of their degradation, and 
labors to raise them to a more just social position ; an interest that 
comes from faith in man as the child of God, and from faith in God 
as the heavenly Father ; an interest that never despairs of the fallen 
or the lost, but makes Him who was the friend of publicans and sin- 
ners its model. 

Truth should be enshrined in our inmost hearts, and become the 
object of our fervent contemplation, our earnest desire and aspiration. 
Consecrate, above all things, truth, whatever prejudices it may pro- 
scribe, whatever advantages it may forfeit, and whatever privileges it 
may level ; truth, though its recompense should be the privations of 
poverty or the darkness of the dungeon ; truth, the first lesson for the 
child, and the last word of the dying ; truth, the world's regenerator, 
God's image on earth, the essence of virtue in the character, the 
foundation of happiness in the heart ; truth, the whole truth, and 
nothing but the truth. 

It is the sorrow which draws sweetness from the affections, and is 
hallowed by conscience, the sorrow that mingles its sanctifying drop 
in the cup of virtuous love and pure-souled friendship, the sorrow 
which mortifies young ambition, and tempers presumptuous enthu- 
siasm, the sorrow which makes us feel our weakness and inefficiency, 
when we have put forth earnest efforts to serve the truth and aid 
human progress, this is the sorrow which chastens and exalts the 
spirit, and fills it with a noble seriousness, and binds it by holier ties 
to that ideal of perfection and blessedness which never perishes from 
the trust and the aspiration of the true servants of God. 

It remains with you, then, to decide whether that freedom at 
whose voice the kingdoms of Europe awoke from the sleep of ages, to 
run a career of virtuous emulation in every thing great and good; 
the freedom which dispelled the mists of superstition, and invited the 
nations to behold their God ; whose magic torch kindled the rays of 
genius, the enthusiasm of poetry, and the flame of eloquence ; the 
freedom which poured into our lap opulence and arts, and embellished 
life with innumerable institutions and improvements, till it became 
a theatre of wonders ; it is for you to decide, whether this freedom 
shall yet survive, or be covered with a funeral pall, and wrapped in 
eternal gloom. 



THE LONGER INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS. Ill 

RULE IV. 

Intermediate Expressions * which are Divisible. 

The dash is generally used before and after the longer 
intermediate expressions, when they are separable into por- 
tions requiring points between them, 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The whole deportment of a child is delightful. Its smile — always so 
ready when there is no distress, and so soon recurring when that distress 
has passed away — is like an opening of the sky, showing heaven beyond. 

2. The archetypes, the ideal forms of things without, — if not, as some 
philosophers have said, in a metaphysical sense, yet in a moral sense, — 
exist within us. 

REMARKS. 

a. When a sentence, being assertive, can be read without a point 
between the parts into which a parenthetical expression is introduced, 
— that is, on the supposition of its being excluded, — none will be 
requisite along with the dashes ; as in the first example under the 
rule, which, if the intermediate clauses were omitted, would read thus : 
" Its smile is like an opening of the sky, showing heaven beyond." 

b. But when, without the intermediate words, such a sentence 
would require a comma or any other grammatical mark at the place 
where they occur, both the dashes must be preceded by that mark, 
as in the second example. 

c. The parenthetical portion, even though incapable of subdivision, 
is enclosed by dashes, when it contains an echo of what precedes, or is 
thrown in by way of explanation ; as, " It was under the influence of 
impulse — the impulse of nature on his own poetic spirit — that Burns 
went forth singing in glory and in joy on the mountain-side." (See 
p. 108.) 

d. If a parenthesis, distinguished by dashes instead of the proper 
parenthetical marks, is expressive of inquiry or emotion, a note of 
interrogation or of exclamation should be used before the second dash, 
whatever be the point, if any, required before the first ; as, " How 
little — may it not be ? — the most considerate feel the import of a 
grateful acknowledgment to God ! " "In conformity with a rule of 
the Trotters, ' never to flinch from duty,' I stand here, not to make a 
speech, — for who would expect me to make a speech ? — but to 

* To the Teacher. — For the merely grammatical mode of pointing parentheses 
and intermediate expressions, see pp. 99-102, and pp. 34-6. 



112 THE DASH. 

thank you for the honor you have done us, and to give you some 
reminiscences of the Trotter family." 

e. Where one parenthetic clause is contained within another, both 
of which should be distinctly perceived, that which is less connected 
in construction, whatever the order, should be enclosed by the usual 
marks, and the other set off by dashes, as in the following lines : — 

" Sir Smug," he cries (for lowest at the board — 
Just made fifth chaplain of his patron lord, 
His shoulders witnessing, by many a shrug, 
How much his feelings suffered — sat Sir Smug), 
" Your office is to winnow false from true : 
Come, prophet, drink; and tell us what think you." 



ORAL EXERCISE.* 

Show how these sentences exemplify the Rule and the Remarks : — 

The true test of a great man — that, at least, which must secure 
his place among the highest order of great men — is his having been 
in advance of his age. 

In youth — that is to say, somewhere between the period of child- 
hood and manhood — there is commonly a striking development of 
sensibility and imagination. 

The magnificent creations of Southey's poetry — piled up, like 
clouds at sunset, in the calm serenity of his capacious intellect — 
have always been duly appreciated by poetical students and critical 
readers ; but by the public at large they are neglected. 

In the heathen world, — where mankind had no divine revelation, 
but followed the impulse of nature alone, — religion was often the 
basis of civil government. 

Demosthenes, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fourth of France, Lord 
Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Franklin, Washington, Napoleon, — differ- 
ent as they were in their intellectual and moral qualities, — were all 
renowned as hard workers. 

When we look up to the first rank of genius, — to Socrates and 
Plato and Pythagoras, to Paul and Luther, to Bacon and Leibnitz 
and Newton, — - we find they are men who bow before the infinite 
sanctities which their souls discern. 

Religion — who can doubt it ? — is the noblest of themes for the 
exercise of intellect. 

I wished — oh ! why should I not have wished ? — that all my , 
fellow-men possessed the blessings of a benign civilization and a pure 
form of Christianity. 

* To the Teacher. — Reasons should be assigned by the class, not only for the 
dashes introduced into this exercise, but for the use of the points accompanying 
them in some of the sentences, and for their omission in others. 



THE LONGER INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS. 113 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

According to pages 111-12, insert in the following sentences the parenthetical 
dashes, zoith the points accompanying them zohen required: — 

In pure description such as is not warmed by passion, or deepened by 
philosophical reflection Shelley is a great master. (Rule, and Rem. 6.) 

In our dwellings and in concert-rooms, ay, and in opera-houses 
so the theme be pure and great there is preaching as surely as within 
church-walls. (Remarks 6 and c.) 

Either there is a resemblance and analogy but how imperfect 
between the attributes of the Divinity and our conceptions of them, 
or we cannot have any conceptions at all. (Remark d.) 

It is no exaggeration to say, that Milton alone has surpassed if 
even he has surpassed some of the noble sonnets of Wordsworth, 
dedicated to liberty and inspired by patriotism. (Remark c.) 

There was a deep wisdom in the governing maxim of the old Ca- 
tholic church though often, it must be confessed, meagrely understood 
and falsely applied that truth is to be found in a central point equally 
remote from divergent errors. (Rule, and Remark b.) 

It is when man is in his truest moods and these come never oftener 
than in his sorrows and self-communings that he finds himself most in 
harmony with nature, and most rejoices in her kindly and wholesome 
influence. (Remark b.) 

The gods of the Greeks those graceful forms which Homer drew 
in verse, and Phidias realized in marble were scarcely more irrational 
than the objects to which, in the name of Christianity, many have 
paid their homage. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

"When a people shall learn that its greatest benefactors and most 
important members are men devoted to the«liberal instruction of all 
its classes to the work of raising to life its buried intellect it will have 
opened to itself the path of true glory. (Remarks b and c.) 

The contest between Christianity and the heathenish philosophy 
between the old polytheism and the new belief, a poetical mythology 
and a religion of morality is the most remarkable intellectual contest 
which has ever been exhibited and determined among the human 
race. (Rule, and Remark a.) 

Christianity which, as a reform lastingly affecting all the social 
relations of men, yet remains to be philosophically estimated (our 
limits forbid our entering upon that tempting field of inquiry) had 
sown the seeds whose fruit might supplement the pre-existing system. 
(Rule, and Remarks a, e.) 

With regard to the powers of speech those powers which the very 
second year of our existence generally calls into action, the exercise 
of which goes on at our sports, our studies, our walks, our very meals, 
and which is never long suspended, except at the hour of refreshing 
sleep how few surpass their fellow-creatures of common information 
and moderate attainments ! (Rule, and Remark b.) 

10* 



114 THE DASH. 

RULE V. 

Ellipsis of the Adverb " Namely" 

The dash is commonly used where there is an ellipsis of 
such words as namely, that is, and others having a similar 
import. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. The four greatest names in English poetry are almost the first we come 

to, — Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, and Milton. 

2. Nicholas Copernicus was instructed in that seminary where it is always 

happy when any one can be well taught, — the family circle. 

3. Gray and Collins aimed at the dazzling imagery and magnificence of ■ 

lyrical poetry, — the direct antipodes of Pope. 

REMARKS. 

a. In the first two examples, the adverb namely, and, in the third 
example, the words which are, might be expressed where the dash is 
inserted; this mark being, in such cases, unnecessary. But it will 
readily be seen, that, as exhibited in the briefer mode and with the 
rhetorical mark, the sentences are more effective than they would be 
if the words understood were supplied. 

b. A comma is required before the dash, in accordance with the 
second branch of the rule (p. 19) on words and phrases in apposition. 
The dash is annexed merely to lengthen the pause made in delivery. 

c. When words after which namely is understood are followed by 
a quotation or a remark^naking sense in itself, the comma and dash 
are better omitted, and a colon substituted in their place ; unless the 
quotation or remark commences a new paragraph, when a comma or 
colon and a dash are used, according to the degree of connection sub- 
sisting between the parts of the passage. (See p. 84.) 



ORAL EXERCISE. 

Why are dashes inserted in the following sentences f — 

There is something infinitely nobler than all the creations of ge- 
nius, — a pure and godlike life. 

We should be enterprising in the exercise of our own minds, and in 
exploring the great sources of truth, — nature, man, revelation. 

Kings and their subjects, masters and slaves, find a common level 
in two places, — at the foot of the cross, and in the grave. 

The essence of all poetry may be said to consist in three things, — 
invention, expression, inspiration. 

From an illusion of the imagination arises one of the most impor- 
tant principles of human nature, — the dread of death. 



ELLIPSIS OF THE WORD "NAMELY." 115 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert a comma and a dash where the ellipsis of the adverb "namely," or a 
similar expression, occurs in the following sentences : — 

Angry thoughts canker the mind, and dispose it to the worst tem- 
per in the world that of fixed malice and revenge. 

There are two kinds of evils those which cannot be cured, and those 
which can. 

I see in this world two heaps one of happiness, and the other of 
misery. 

Amongst us men, these three things are a large part of our virtue 
to endure, to forgive, and ourselves to get pardon. 

The orations of Caesar were admired for two qualities which are 
seldom found together strength and elegance. 

Among uncivilized nations, only one profession is honorable that 
of arms. 

In 1813, Moore entered upon his noble poetical and patriotic task 
writing lyrics for the ancient music of his native country. 

Milton's life was a true poem; or it might be compared to an an- 
them on his own favorite organ high-toned, solemn, and majestic. 

Faith builds, in the dungeon and the lazar-house, its sublimest 
shrines ; and up, through roofs of stone, that shut up the eye of Heaven, 
ascends the ladder where the angels glide to and fro Prayer. 



The best shelter that the world affords us is the first the affections 
into which we are born, and which are too natural for us to know their 
worth till they are disturbed. 

In my analysis of the nature of love, I have stated its two great 
elements a vivid pleasure in the contemplation of the object of regard, 
and a desire of the happiness of that object. 

The more sympathies we gain or awaken for what is beautiful, by 
so much deeper will be our sympathy for that which is most beautiful 
the human soul. 

It is remarked by Rousseau, that every people in the ancient world 
that can be said to have had morals has respected the sex Sparta, 
Germany, Rome. 

Many a brilliant reputation resembles a pageant showy and unsub- 
stantial, attracting the acclamations of the crowd, and forgotten as 
soon as it has passed. 

If men would confine their talk to those subjects only which they 
understood, that which St. John informs us took place once in heaven 
would happen very frequently on earth " silence for the space of half 
an hour." 

The violator of the sacred laws of justice feels, that the unhappy 
effects of his own conduct have rendered him the proper object of the 
resentment and indignation of mankind, and of what is the natural 
consequence vengeance and punishment. 



116 THE DASH. 

RULE VL 

Omission of Letters or Figures. 

The dash is often used to denote an omission of letters or 
figures. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. By H ns ! for .... By Heavens ! 

2. Matt. ix. 1-6 Matt. ix. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 

3. The years 1856-7 The years 1856, 1857. 



RULE vn. 

Subheads, fyc, to Paragraphs. 

The dash should be inserted between a title and the subject- 
matter, and also between the subject-matter and the authority 
from which it is taken, when they occur in the same paragraph. 



EXAMPLE. 



Fidelity to God. — Whatever station or rank Thou shalt assign me, I 
will die ten thousand deaths sooner than abandon it. — Socrates. 

REMARKS. 

a. The dash is sometimes inserted between a question and an 
answer, when they come together in the same paragraph ; as, " Who 
created you ? — God." 

b. So, also, the dash is useful to connect separate paragraphs, dia- 
logues, &c, when it is deemed necessary to save room. Thus : — 

" How are you, Trepid? How do you feel to-day, Mr. Trepid?" — "A 
great deal worse than I was, thank you; almost dead, I am obliged to you." 
— " Why, Trepid, what is the matter with you? " — " Nothing, I tell you, 
in particular; but a great deal is the matter with me in general." 

c. A dash is commonly inserted between the word chapter or sec- 
tion with its accompanying numeral, and the title of a subject, when 
they are placed in the same line. Thus : — 

SECT. LV. — THE POWER OF IMAGINATION. 

d. A dash is also put after an expression connected in sense and 
construction with what follows, if the latter necessarily begins a new 
line ; as, " Occasionally, perhaps, he was — 

' Lofty and sour to them that loved him not; 
But, to those men that sought him, sweet as summer.' " 



117 



CHAPTER IV. 

LETTER, SYLLABIC, AND QUOTATION POINTS. 



The points treated of in the two preceding chapters have 
been classified into two kinds, — 1. The grammatical ; and, 
2. The grammatical and rhetorical. As previously stated, 
they are used for the purpose of developing the sense of a 
composition, by exhibiting the various connections and con- 
structions of words, phrases, and clauses; and of aiding the 
delivery, by showing the nature of sentences, as affirmative, 
interrogative, emotional, parenthetic, suspensive, or broken. 
The marks to be considered in this chapter are — 

1. The Apostrophe [ ' ] 

2. The Hyphen [-] 

3. The Marks of Quotation . . . . [" "] 

These are put into a class different from the others, because, 
though they serve to bring out the sense and to aid a just 
delivery, they do not exhibit any analysis of sentences, or 
point out the relation of their parts to one another, but call 
the attention merely to letters or syllables, as do the Apostro- 
phe and the Hyphen, or to something foreign to the meaning 
and construction of the passages to which they are prefixed and 
annexed, as is the case with the Marks of Quotation. 

All these points are, however, frequently required in some 
kinds of composition; and the proper modes of using them 
should therefore be well understood. 



118 



Sect. I. — THE APOSTROPHE. 






The Apostrophe [ ' ] is a mark distinguished in appear- 
ance from a comma, only in being placed above the line ; but 
its uses are altogether different. 

RULE I. 

Contractions, or Words Shortened. 

The apostrophe is used, chiefly in poetry and -in familiar 
dialogue, to denote the omission of a letter or of letters. 

EXAMPLES. 



I've . contracted for . I have. 

'em them. 

i'the in the. 

o'er over. 



he 's . contracted for . he is. 

ne'er never. 

thou'rt ...... thou art. 

'tis it is. 



REMARKS. 



a. Though not, strictly speaking, contractions, the plurals of mere 
letters or of Arabic figures are formed by the insertion of an apostro- 
phe before the s ; as, " Mark all the a's and o's in your exercise." — 
" In this sum there are four 2's and three 5's." 

b. It was once a common practice, especially in verse, to write and 
print tho' and thro', instead of though and through ; but these abbre- 
viated forms are now discontinued, for the very just reason that they 
do not shorten the pronunciation of the words, — the chief object for 
which contractions are used. 

c. The apostrophe is erroneously used in the words to, the, heaven, 
power, every, threatening, and others of a similar nature, when 
written, as they frequently are in verse, f, th\ heaven, pow'r, evWy, 
threatening, &c. ; for, though apparently, in the full or uncontracted 
form, making a syllable additional to the number of the feet required 
by the verse, they are never pronounced differently from the same 
words in prose, nor does this pronunciation at all affect the rhythm. 

d. It seems to have been once the practice to pronounce, as an 
additional syllable, the ed in the imperfect tense of verbs, in past 
participles, and in participial adjectives ; and hence arose the propriety, 
in poetical works of a bygone age, of omitting the e in words of this 



CONTRACTIONS AND ELISIONS. 119 

sort, and of supplying its place with an apostrophe, when the termi- 
nation treated of coalesced in pronunciation with the primitive to 
which d or ed was attached. Now, however, that this syllable is not 
separately enunciated in prose, — except in learned, beloved, cursed, 
winged, when used as adjectives, and in some instances where a com- 
bination of harsh consonants necessarily requires the ed always to be 
articulated as a syllable ; and except also in Sacred Scripture, portions 
of which should be read in a very solemn manner, — the propriety of 
supplying the place of the e with an apostrophe is exceedingly ques- 
tionable. In many recent publications, therefore, the mark of con- 
traction has been thrown aside in regard to such words, and a grave 
accent placed on the e in those only which are lengthened for the sake 
of the rhythm ; as will be seen in the following lines : — 

I praised the sun, whose chariot rolled 
On wheels of amber and of gold ; 
I praised the moon, whose softer eye 
Gleamed sweetly through the summer sky ; 
And moon and sun in answer said, 
"Our days of light are numbered.''' 1 

e. Some of the past participles, having the termination ed, are in 
verse frequently written or printed with a t, as in the words blest, 
drest, dreamt; and this mode of spelling, though not analogical, is 
by no means unpleasant to the eye. In prose, however, when parti- 
ciples having both terminations occur, it is better to adopt that which 
is more usual ; being, to speak generally, the regular form, ed. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

State the reason given in the Rule for inserting an apostrophe in the words thus 
marked, and read them both in the contracted and the full form: — 

'Mid such a heavenly scene as this, death is an empty name. 

Thou'lt yet survive the storm, and bloom in paradise. 

Methought that I lay naked and faint 'neath a tropic sky. 

If I'd a throne, I'd freely share it with thee. 

That lesson in my memory I'll treasure up with care. 

I might have lived, and 'joyed immortal bliss. 

'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy. 

Let me thy voice betimes i'the morning hear. 

The thing they can't but purpose, they postpone. 

E'en with the tender tear which nature sheds o'er those we love. 

You're overwatched, my lord : He down and rest. 

Here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal.* 

* To the Teacher. — These sentences are given merely as an exercise for the 
necessary insertion of the apostrophe in abbreviated words ; but the pupil should be 
made aware, that, though in poetry and in dialogues such abbreviations are quite 
proper, they are not used by writers of prose who have any claim to elegance. 






120 THE APOSTROPHE. 

Show how the insertion or the omission of apostrophes in certain words, occurring 
in these portions of verse, is borne out by the preceding Remarks: — 

Strike — till the last armed foe expires ! 

Here Edwin and his Emma oft would stray, 
To enjoy the coolness of the evening breeze. 

The toiling ploughman drives his thirsty teams 
To taste the slippery streams. 

The bird let loose in Eastern skies, 

When hastening fondly home, 
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies 

Where idle warblers roam. 

Unthinking, idle, wild, and young, 
I laughed and talked, and danced and sung; 
And, proud of health, of freedom vain, 
Dreamt not of sorrow, care, or pain. 

Serenity broods o'er my mind; „ 

For I daily pray to Heaven, 
That, when the hour of death arrives, 

My sins may be forgiven. 



EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. 

Insert the apostrophe wherever necessary; and mark a grave accent on the 
vowel in ed in verse, when pronounced as an additional syllable : — 

As Yorkshire Humphrey, tother day, 
Oer London Bridge was stufhping. 

That forked flash, that pealing crash, 
Seemed from the wave to sweep her. 

For who but He that arched the skies 
Could raise the daisy's purple bud, 
Mould its green cup, its wiry stem, 
Its fringed border nicely spin, 
And cut the gold-embossed gem, 
That, set in silver, gleams within? 

Now, brothers, bending oer the accursed loom, 
Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. 

Then lighted from his gorgeous throne ; for now 
Twixt host and host but narrow space was left. 

Approach, and read (for thou canst read) the lay 
Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn. 

Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt, 
Splitst the unwedgea'ble and gnarled oak, 
Than the soft myrtle. 

Blest be the day I scaped the wrangling crew 
From Pyrrho's maze and Epicurus' sty, 
And held high converse with the godlike few, 
Who, to the enraptured heart and ear and eye, 
Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love and melody! 



THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 121 

RULE H. 

The Genitive or Possessive Case. 

The apostrophe is used to distinguish the possessive case 
of nouns ; which is usually formed in the singular number by 
adding to the nominative an s, with an apostrophe before it, 
and in the plural by simply annexing this mark. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. What majesty attends Night's lovely queen ! 

2. The Ages' voice speaks everlasting truth. 

REMARKS. 

a. The apostrophe is sometimes used in the singular number with- 
out the additional s, when the nominative ends in s, ss, ce, or x ; as, 
"Moses' rod," "for righteousness' sake," "for conscience' sake," 
" the administratrix' sale." This mode of punctuation holds good 
chiefly in proper names having a foreign termination, and in such 
common nouns as are seldom used in the plural, — an exception to 
the rule of forming the possessive singular, which is founded on the 
propriety of modifying the disagreeable nature of the hissing sound. 

b. Recourse, however, should not be had to the principle laid down 
in the preceding remark, Avhen its adoption would cause ambiguity, 
or when the addition of the s is not offensive to a refined ear. For 
instance, the Italic words in the phrases, " Burns' s Poems," " James's 
book," " Thomas's cloak," " the fox's tail," though they contain the 
hissing sound, are not particularly unpleasant, and are far more ana- 
logical and significant than the abbreviated forms, " Burns' Poems," 
"James' book," " Thomas' cloak," "the fox' tail." 

c. To form the possessive case plural, the apostrophe, with an s 
after it, is added to the nominative plural, when it does not end in 
that letter ; as, " Men's passions ; women's tenderness." 

d. The possessive case of pronouns is formed without an apostro- 
phe ; as, — 



SINGULAR. 

Mine. 
Yours 
His. 


PLURAL. 

Ours. 

Yours. 

Theirs. 


SINGULAR. 

Hers. 

Its. 
Whose. 


PLURAL. 

Theirs. 
Theirs. 
Whose.* 



* To the Teacher. — Some grammarians would use the apostrophe before the s 
in ours, yours, hers, its, theirs. But the pupil should be shown the inaccuracy of 
this punctuation, from the mode in which the other pronouns in the possessive case 
are always written ; namely, mine, his, and whose ; which exhibit the case without 
the mark in question. 

11 



122 THE APOSTROPHE. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 



State the reason for the insertion and position of the apostrophe in these 
sentences : — 

A man's manners not unfrequently indicate his morals. 

On eagles' wings he seemed to soar. — Our enemies' resistance. 

The shepherd-swain on Scotia's mountains fed his little flock. 

And the Persians' gems and gold were the Grecians' funeral pyre. 

We will not shrink from life's severest due. — Woman's rights. 

Few columns rose to mark her patriots' last repose. 

The sun is the poet's, the invalid's, and the hypochondriac's friend. 

The ladies' gloves and shawls were exceedingly handsome. 

O majestic Night, Nature's great ancestor, Day's elder born ! 

He must strike the second heat upon the Muses' anvil. 

Mother's wag, pretty boy, father's sorrow, father's joy. 

Spirit of Good ! on this week's verge I stand. 

Bid them in duty's sphere as meekly move. 

Why is that sleeper laid to rest in manhood's pride ? 

Who loves not spring's voluptuous hours, or summer's splendid reign ? 

Is sparkling wit the world's exclusive right ? 

The Turk awoke : he woke to hear his sentry's shriek. 

The people's shouts were long and loud. — Thy mercies' monument. 

A friend should bear a friend's infirmities. — The ox's hide. 



SIioio how the Rule or the Remarks (p. 121) are applicable to the possessive 
case in the following ifarases and sentences : — 

Adam's book, not Adams's : the book did not belong to Adams. 

John Quincy Adams's death was no common bereavement. 

Sir Humphrey Davy's safety-lamp. — Davis's Straits, 

Josephus's " History of the Jews " is a very interesting work. 

Andrew's hat, not Andrews's. — Andrews's " Latin Reader." 

Henry Brooke's " Fool of Quality " is a celebrated novel. 

Joshua Brookes's museum was filled with anatomical specimens. 

Sir Matthew Hale's " Contemplations, Moral and Divine." 

The ever-memorable John Hale's " Golden Remains." 

William Ames's writings were once prized much above their worth. 

For quietness' sake, the man would not enter into any dispute. 

Col. Matthews's delivery. — Matthew's Gospel, not Matthews's. 

The witness's testimony agreed with the facts of the case. 

Athanasius' friends, as well as his foes, were numerous and powerful. 

Let Temperance' smile the cup of gladness cheer. 

Nor roamed Parnassus' heights nor Pindus' hallowed shade. 

There is no impropriety in speaking of the cockatrice's den. 

I oft have sat on Thames' sweet bank to hear my friend. 

Like the silver crimson shroud, that Phoebus' smiling looks doth grace. 

After two years, Porcius Festus came into Felix's room. 



THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 123 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Agreeably to the Rule and the Remarks on page 121, insert apostrophes in, or 
annex them to, the nouns in the possessive case which occur in the following 
sentences; but let the pronouns remain unmarked: — 

The traveller went to lodge, not in Mr. Jacob's house, but in Mr. 
Jacobss. (Rule, and Remark 6.) 

I am going to the booksellers [sing.'] to purchase Popes Homer 
and Drydens Virgil. 

Procrustes bed. — Hortensius influence. — Achilles shield. — Poca- 
hontas father. — Sophocles Greek Grammar. (Remark a.) 

Robert Burnss prose as well as poetical writings are astonishing 
productions. (Remark b.) 

Fames proud temple shines afar. — From mens experience do thou 
learn wisdom. (Rule, and Remark c.) 

They applauded that conduct of his, but condemned hers and yours. 
The reason of its being done I cannot tell. (Remark d.) 

He had the surgeons [sing.], the physicians [sing.], and the apo- 
thecarys advice. 

The tendency of Dickenss genius, both in delineating the • actual 
and the natural, is to personify, to individualize. (Remark b.) 



Goethes " Wilhelm Meister " was the rich result of ten years 
labor. 

John Parrys children played with David Parriss. — Williams wig 
was purchased at Mr. Williamss shop. (Rule, and Remark b.) 

I would rather have arrived at one profound conclusion of the 
sages meditation in his dim study, than to win the gaze of the mul- 
titude. 

Should you have occasion to refer, in writing or in print, to Burns 
sermons, meaning the sermons of Burn, you must be careful to put 
the apostrophe in its right place. (Rule, and comp. Remark b.) 

A drunkard once reeled up to him with the remark, " Mr. White- 
field, I am one of your converts." — "I think it very likely," was the 
reply ; " for I am sure you are none of Gods." 

Behold Affections garden, whose sweet flowers — 

A blending of all odors, forms, and hues — 

Were nursed by Fancy and the gentle Muse 

In heaven-born Poesys delightful bowers. 

Ye who appreciate the poet's powers, 

And love the bright creations of his mind, 

Come, linger here awhile, and ye shall find 

A noble solace in your milder hours : 

Here Byrons genius, like an eagle, towers 

In dread sublimity; while Rogers lute, 

Moores native harp, and Campbells classic flute, 

Mingle in harmony, as beams with showers. 

Can their high strains of inspiration roll, 

Nor soothe the heart, nor elevate the soul? 



124 



Sect. H. — THE HYPHEN. 






The Hyphen [ - ] is sometimes employed to join the 
constituent parts of compound and derivative words. It is 
also used to divide words into syllables, for the purpose either 
of exhibiting the pronunciation, or of showing the simple 
portions into which words of more than one syllable may be 
resolved. 

EEMAEK S. 

a. From this explanation, it will be seen that the hyphen is used 
for two very different purposes, — to join and to separate. As a 
mark of junction, it is inserted between the simple w'ords of which 
certain compounds are formed ; and, in peculiar circumstances, between 
a preposition, or a portion of a word, and the word to which it is 
prefixed ; as, " the inhuman and fiendish slave-trade ; " " a man of 

§ pre-eminence ; " " the Neo-Platonic philosophers." As a mark 

of separation, it is employed by lexicographers and by writers or 
printers to analyze words, and to divide them into syllables ; by the 
former to show as accurately as possible the pronunciation, and by 
the latter to disunite portions of words that cannot be brought into a 
line of manuscript or of letterpress. 

b. The distinction between a compound and a derivative word is, 
that the former consists of two or more simple words which are 
separately and commonly used in English ; whereas the latter is made 
up of simple w^orcls, or portions of words, which are not each separately 
current in the language ; as, pseudo-apostle. (See p. 6, Def. XIII.) 

c. But the simple words which make up compounds and derivatives 
are not always united by the hyphen ; a few only of the latter being 
thus distinguished, and a very considerable number of the former, 
particularly those which form compound nouns, having coalesced so 
closely in pronunciation as to require them to be presented to the eye 
as one word. It is, therefore, a matter of importance to ascertain 
when it will be proper to join the parts of compounds with the 
hyphen, and when to unite them without this connecting mark.* 
The mode of using the hyphen in syllabication is also attended with 
difficulties, which may, in a great measure, be obviated by an appeal 
to certain principles. 

* To the Teacher. — In the author's larger work, pp. 209-18, an attempt has 
been made to effect, in some degree, this object; but much has yet to be done before 
all the difficulties connected with compound words can be resolved. 



COMPOUND WORDS. 125 

RULE I. 
Compound Words. 

§ I. When each of the words of which a compound is 
formed retains its original accent, they should be united by a 
hyphen. 

§ II. But, when the compound word has only one accent, 
its parts are consolidated ; being written or printed without 
the hyphen. 



EXAMPLES. 



§1. 

1. The all -wise' God. 

2. In'cense-breath'ing morn. 



§ II. 

1. A fortunate bookseller. 

2. A mean no'bleman. 



REMARK S. 

" bookseller " 

and " nobleman," are compounds, because they severally represent 
not two separate ideas, but one compound idea. The primitives which 
enter into the composition of " all'-wise' " and " in'cense-breath'ing " 
retain the same accents as they had before these compounds were 
formed ; but, as they could not be readily distinguished if written or 
printed closely together, the only mode of showing that they are 
compound is by inserting a hyphen between them. On the other 
hand, the simple words forming the compounds " bookseller " and 
" nobleman " do not both retain the accents which are heard in the 
phrases, " a seller of books" " a man who is noble" but so perfectly 
coalesce in pronunciation as to form one unbroken, continuous word, 
with a single accent, — booh' seller, nobleman ; the hyphen, therefore, 
being unnecessary.* 

b. In the preceding paragraph, it was said that a compound word 
represents a compound idea, and not two ideas. This definition, Dr. 
Latham, from whom we borrowed it, illustrates (in his work on the 
" English Language," p. 359) by the expression, " a sharp-edged 
instrument," which means an instrument with sharp edges ; whereas 

* To the Teacher. — All compounds should be written as best to exhibit their 
true pronunciation, and the ideas intended to be expressed; and these objects may 
be effected sometimes by consolidating the simples, and sometimes by uniting them 
with a hyphen. But there are numerous exceptions to the application of the rule, 
and the mode of presenting the compounds is often very conflicting. The teacher 
should therefore recommend to the class, that, wherever in any case the prevailing 
usage as to the insertion or the omission of the hyphen cannot be easily ascertained, 
recourse be had at once to the principle in the rule, which is founded on the general 
tendencies of the English language. 

11* 



126 THE HYPHEN. 

a sharp edged instrument denotes an instrument that is sharp and 
has edges. It may not be practicable to apply the remark in each 
and all cases; but it is certain that compounds have often a signi- 
fication very different from that which the same words convey when 
written apart, and that this difference should be indicated by the 
mode of exhibiting them. Thus, blackbird is properly written as one 
word, because it represents a particular species of birds ; whereas a 
black bird means any bird that is black. A glass-house is a house 
in which glass is made, while a glass house is a house made of glass. 
The goodman of a house may, for aught we know, be a very bad 
man ; and a good man may, for certain reasons, have no claim what- 
ever to the civility implied in the use of the compound : yet both 
terms, if correctly written, will be understood. Forget me not lite- 
rally expresses an earnest desire, on the part of a speaker or a writer, 
that he should be remembered; but, in a metaphorical sense, the 
same words, when combined, — forget-me-not, — denote a certain 
flower, emblematic of friendship or fidelity. 



RULE II. 

Prefixes in Derivative Words. 

§ I. If a prefix ends with a vowel, and the word with 
which it is combined begins with a consonant ; or if the former 
ends with a consonant, and the latter begins with a vowel or a 
consonant, — the compound thus formed should appear as one 
unbroken word. 

§ II. If, however, the prefix ends, and the word to which 
it is united begins, with a vowel, — both vowels being sepa- 
rately pronounced, — they should be connected with a hyphen. 



^ EXAMPLES. 

§ I. 

1. Predetermine, resell, antedate. 

2. Counteraction, multangular. 

3. Supernatural, contemporaneous 



§ II. 

1. Pre-occupy, re-echo, ante-act. 

2. Contra-indication, retro-enter. 

3. Supra-orbital, co-eternal. 



REMARKS. 



a. When the prefix ends with a vowel, and is followed by a word 
beginning also with a vowel, many writers place a diaeresis over the 
latter, instead of a hyphen between them ; as, coeval. But, as this 
mode of exhibiting derivatives does not seem to accord with the 
genius of the English language, which dispenses with Accentual marks, 






DERIVATIVE WORDS. 127 

it would be better to reserve the use of the diaeresis for words con- 
taining two vowels separately pronounced, but not capable of being 
divided, except for the purpose of syllabication and at the end of a 
line, by the hyphen ; as in Beelzebub, and in borrowed foreign words. 

b. As an exception to the first section of the rule, it is worthy of 
remark, that a derivative which might be mistaken for a word with 
the same letters, but a different meaning, should be distinguished from 
it by the insertion of a hyphen between its parts. Thus, re-creation, 
denoting a new creation, is obviously a more appropriate form of this 
word than recreation, which, besides being differently pronounced, 
signifies refreshment, or relaxation aft„er toil. Thus, also, a difference 
exists in meaning and pronunciation between re-collect and recollect ; 
re-form, re-formation, and reform, reformation ; which it is neces- 
sary to exhibit in corresponding modes. With the exception of such 
words, the manner of writing derivatives having the prefix re is 
governed by the rule. 

c. Terms or epithets with prefixes of unusual occurrence, parti- 
cularly if the compounds thus formed have two accents, should be 
excepted from the operation of the first branch of the rule ; as, astro- 
theology, concavo-convex, deutero-canonical, electro-magnetism. 

d. The prefixes of proper names, or words used as such, -substan- 
tively or adjectively, follow both sections of the rule; as, Pedobaptist, 
Cisalpine, Transatlantic; Pre-Adamic. But the words Neo-Platonic, 
Anglo-Saxon, Scoto-TIibernian, and others of a similar kind, accord 
in their forms with those referred to in Remark c. 

e. Extra is sometimes used as an adjective, and separated from 
the noun which it qualifies ; as, extra pay, extra ivork. As a prefix 
in extraordinary, it is not followed by a hyphen, because its last 
letter (a), though coming before a vowel, is silent in pronunciation. 

f. The letter a, when by a colloquialism it represents one of the 
prepositions on, in, at, should be united, without a hyphen, to the fol- 
lowing word, if consisting of only one syllable ; as, abed, aboard. 

g. Bi and tri are usually consolidated with the words, or parts of 
words, to which they are prefixed ; as, biennial ; triunity, triune. 

li. Vicegercncy, vicegerent, viceroy al, and viceroyalty are, in ac- 
cordance with the rule, written each as one word. The other words, 
of which vice is a prefix, are, by almost universal custom, hyphened ; 
as, vice-president, vice-chancellor, &c. 

i. Bi, ante, anti, counter, contra, super, supra, semi, demi, preter, 
and other common prefixes, are sometimes written with a hyphen 
after them ; but there seem to be no just grounds for this division, 
except when two vowels would otherwise come together, or when a 
dissyllabic prefix ends with the same consonant with which the next 
portion of a long word begins ; as, anti-evangelical, counter-revohdion. 



128 THE HYPHEN. 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Show how the Rules and the Remarks (pp. 124-7) apply to the insertion of 
hyphens in certain woi*ds, or to their omission in others, which occur in the 

following sentences : — 

Better be trampled in the dust than trample on a fellow-creature. 

I gave distinct orders to the shoemaker to make my shoes. 

We have no doubt that instinct is a Heaven-ordained law. 

What the nations look for is a loving and life-giving religion. 

Keen-eyed revenge is riding round your ranks. 

When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies. 

O sailor-boy, sailor-boy ! peace to thy soul ! 

He spoke no warrior-word, he bade no trumpet blow. 

And soft-eyed cherub-forms around thee play. 

My penknife is blunt. — The newspaper is interesting. 

The most remarkable winds are those denominated the trade-winds. 

Many are the advantages of co-operation. 

Like ocean-weeds heaped on the surf-beaten shore. 

Imagination is the truth-seeing and the beauty-seeing power. 

Ben Jonson, the great dramatist, was co-eval with Shakspeare. 

Hazlitt displays more of blunt vigor than of well-balanced taste. 



The shrieks of agony and clang of arms re-echo to the fierce 
alarms her trump terrific blows. 

Philosophy will rise again in the sky of her Franklin, and glory 
rekindle at the urn of her Washington. 

There is little of the intellectual or moral in that sort of independ- 
ence which is the proverbial characteristic of our countrymen. 

Would that that noble people were re-instated in all their ancient 
privileges ! 

The instincts of multitudes feel afar the gathering earthquake, 
which is to swallow up caste, privileges, and unjust distinctions. 

Like other great works, " Paradise Lost " is oftenest studied and 
estimated by piecemeal only. 

Illiterate and ill-bred persons are apt to be verbose, contradictory, 
and loud in conversation. 

There is a mother-heart in all children, as well as a child-heart in 
all mothers. 

Nature cries aloud for freedom as our proper guide, our birthright, 
and our end. 

If man could ascend to dwell at the fountainhead of truth, he 
would be re-absorbed in God. 

Thousands of state-projects, on the vastest scale, have been con- 
ceived, executed, and forgotten. 

Deep-hearted practical faithfulness is not separable long from 
true-thoughted practical faith. 

Li moments of clear, calm thought, I feel more for the wrong-doer 
than for him who is wronged. 



COMPOUNDS AND DERIVATIVES. 129 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 

Let the compound and derivative words be toritten agreeably to the two preceding 
Bides and the Remarks : — 

Genius has no chartered license to wander away from the eternal 
land marks of morality. (Rule I., § n.) 

Leighton's devoutly meditative eloquence made him the bosom 
oracle of Coleridge. (Rule L, § I.) 

One leg is some times a little longer than the other. — The candle 
stick stands on the table. (Rule I., § II.) 

The selfish use rules as means of self indulgence, and the narrow 
minded over look the end in the means. (Rule I., both sections.) 

Genius, in its highest function, cannot co exist with a corrupted 
moral sentiment. (Rule II., § n.) 

Every rail road, connecting distant regions, may be regarded as 
accomplishing a ministry of peace. (Rule L, § II.) 

What is religious instruction to the vain, the frivolous, the in differ- 
ent, the pre occupied and fore closed mind ? (Rule II., both sections.) 

As I stole nearer, invited by the melody, I saw the fair faced youth. 
(Rule I., § I.) 

The church yard bears an added stone ; the fire side shows a vacant 
chair. (Rule I., § II.) 

Perhaps the sermons which have cost the clergy man the least effort 
have some times the most effect on his hearers. (Rule I., § n.) 



In ship wrecks we are furnished with some of the most remarkable 
examples of trust in God, of unconquerable energy, and of tender, 
self sacrificing love. (Rule I., both sections.) 

Edward the Sixth was a boy king and a puppet prince, invested 
with supreme power, but acting without any volition of his own. 
(Rule L, § I.) 

The faith of the first Christians expressed itself in vehement re action 
against the prevailing tendencies of an exceedingly corrupted civiliza- 
tion. (Rule II., § ii.) 

Education can hardly be too intellectual, unless by intellectual 
you mean parrot knowledge, and other modes of mind slaughter. 
(Rule L, § i.) 

A man of no feeling must necessarily be unhappy, since the texture 
of his heart affords him no super abundant sensibility for the suffer- 
ings of his fellow creatures. (Rule II. § I. ; and Rule I., § i.) 

The ordinary processes of direct instruction are of immense import- 
ance ; but they pre suppose in the mind to which they are applied an 
active co operation. (Rule II., both sections.) 

You talk of the prosperity of your city. Do not point me to 
your thronged streets. Is it a low minded, self seeking, gold wor- 
shipping, man despising crowd which I see rushing through them ? 
(Rule L, § I.) 



130 



THE HYPHEN. 



rule ni. 

The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their 
Pronunciation. 

The hyphen is used between the syllables of a word, to 
exhibit, as accurately as possible, its true pronunciation ; no 
regard being paid to the mode in which it has been formed 
or derived. 

EXAMPLES. 

hab-it ap-a-tliy 

pref-ace pref-er-ence 

trib-ute trin-i-ty 

proph-et po-lyg-a-my 



as-tron-o-my 
an-tip-o-des 
bi-og-ra-pher 
rev-e-la-tion 



KEMAEK. 



A syllable is a combination of letters uttered by one impulse of 
the voice ; as hob or ha in the word habit, according to the specific 
principle of syllabication which may be adopted. A single letter of 
a word, pronounced by itself, is also termed a syllable ; as i or o in 
the exclamation io I 



RULE IV. 

The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Form, 
Derivation, or Meaning. 

The hyphen is employed in words in such a manner as is 
best calculated to show their origin, composition, or import, 
and to exhibit the syllables in their neatest form. 



ha-bit 
pre-face 
tri-bute 
pro-pbet 



EXAMPLES. 

a-pa-thy 
pre-fer-ence 
tri-ni-ty 
po-ly-ga-my 

REMARKS. 



as-tro-no-my 
an-ti-po-des 
bi-o-gra-pher 
re-ve-la-tion 



a. Agreeably to this rule, and partially in accordance with that 
which precedes it, — 



SYLLABICATION. 131 

1. Compound and derivative words are resolved into their primi- 
tives ; as. school-master, hand-ioriting, pen-hiife, snuff-box, looking- 
glass ; arch-angel, geo-logy, theo-cracy, ortho-graphy. 

2. Prefixes, affixes, and grammatical terminations, are separated ; 
as, dis-continue, en-able, trans-port; sliear-er, load-ed, print-ing ; 
Jcing-dom, false-hood, differ-ence, command-ment 

3. Two vowels, not being a diphthong, are divided; as, la-ity, 
a-eri-al, re-al, stere-otype, vi-al, pi-ety, li-on, tri-umph, co-alesce, 
po-et, medi-um, zo-ology, vow-el, cru-elty, vacu-um. 

4. One consonant between two vowels is to be joined to the latter 
syllable ; as, ta-lent, fa-tal ; me-lon, le-ver ; spi-rit, si-lence ; cy-nic, 
ty-ro ; le-ga-cy, mo-no-po-ly. Except x, and single consonants when 
they belong to the former portion of a derivative or compound word ; 
as, ex-ile, ex-ist, ex-amine ; up-on ; dis-ease, circum-ambient. 

5. Two or more consonants belong to the latter syllable, when they 
are capable of beginning a word; as, ta-ble, sti-fie, lu-cre, o-gle, 
mau-gre, stro-p>he, destroy. 

6. But, when the consonants cannot begin a word, or when the 
vowel preceding them is short, the first should be separated; as, 
ab-bey, ac-cent, vel-lum, ab-ject, gar-den, laun-dry, pam-plilet ; sac- 
rifice, det-riment, blas-pheme, dis-tress, min-strel. 

b. It is desirable that compound and derivative words should, at 
the ends of lines, be divided in such a manner as to indicate their 
principal parts. Thus, school-master is preferable to schoolmas-ter, 
dis-approve to disapprove, resent-ment to resentment, ortho-doxy 
to or-thodoxy ; though, as regards the analysis of words into sylla- 
bles, the latter mode is unobjectionable. 

c. The terminations tion, sion, cial, tial, and many others, formerly 
pronounced as two syllables, but now only as one, must not be divided 
either in spelling or at the end of a line. 

d. A syllable consisting of only one letter, as the a in cre-ation, 
should not commence a line. This word would be better divided, 
crea-tion ; and so all others of a similar kind. But such a syllable, 
coming immediately after a primitive, may be brought to the begin- 
ning ; as, considerable. 

e. A line must not end with the first syllable of a word, when it 
consists of a single letter; as, a-bide, e-normous : nor begin with the 
last syllable, when it is formed of only two letters; as nation-al, 
teach-er, similar-ly. For regard should be had to the principles of 
taste and beauty, as well as to the laws of syllabication. 

To the Teacher. — Tor an exercise on syllabication, any reading-book will supply 
tbe pupil with words of more than one syllable. Those contained in a specified 
page the teacher may require him to copy, and to divide according either to their 
pronunciation or their derivation and meaning. 



132 



Sect. HI. — MARKS OF QUOTATION. 



Marks of Quotation [ " " ] are employed to show that 
the words of an author or a speaker are quoted. These 
marks consist usually of two inverted commas placed at the 
beginning, and two apostrophes at the end, of a quotation. 

RULE I. 

Words borroioed from a Speaker or mi Author. 

A word, phrase, or passage, belonging to another, and 
introduced into one's own composition, is distinguished by 
marks of quotation. 

EXAMPLE. 

To one who said, " I do not believe there is an honest man in the world," 
another replied, " It is impossible that any one man should know all the 
world, but quite possible that one may know himself." 

REMARKS. 

a. When a writer repeats his own language, and wishes to draw 
to it particular attention, he properly uses the same marks as he 
would employ were he transcribing the sentiments of another. 

b. Marks of quotation may be omitted where the matter taken is 
not given in the exact words of the author ; as, — 

Socrates said that he believed in the immortality of the soul. 

c. Quotation-marks are also omitted when a mere phrase or saying 
from a foreign language is distinguished by Italics ; as, — 

Nil mortalibus arduum est is a bold but encouraging assertion. 

d. In mentioning titles of books, or names of ships and other 
articles, or in speaking of certain words or phrases, some authors put 
them in Italics ; but, as Italics give an irregular look to a printed 
page, Roman characters and quotation-marks are preferable ; as, — 

We may justly regard "Paradise Lost" as one of the noblest efforts of 
human genius. 

The word " pharisaical " is found to be very useful in our modern speech. 



ONE QUOTATION WITHIN ANOTHER. 133 

e. When an example or an extract, particularly if in verse, is 
begun on a new line, and set in a smaller type, the marks of quota- 
tion are by some writers dispensed with. In cases, however, of this 
kind, perhaps the generality of authors and printers use the inverted 
commas and the apostrophes, agreeably to the rule ; and this usage 
is recommended, except in works containing numerous quotations, 
which are well known to be such, as in the present book. 



RULE II. 

One Quotation within another. 

When one quotation is introduced within another, the in- 
cluded one should be preceded by a single inverted comma, 
and closed by a single apostrophe. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. When treating of Christian orators, Maury asks the following apposite 
questions : " What is this you call eloquence ? Is it the wretched trade of 
imitating that criminal, mentioned by a poet in his satires, who ' balanced 
his crimes before his judges with antithesis ' ? Is it the puerile secret of 
forming jejune quibbles; of rounding periods; of tormenting one's self by 
tedious studies, in order to reduce sacred instruction into a vain amuse- 
ment?" 

2. In describing the vast influence of a perfect orator over the feelings 
and passions of his audience, Sheridan forcibly says,' " Notwithstanding the 
diversity of minds in such a multitude, by the lightning of eloquence they 
are melted into one mass ; the whole assembly, actuated in one and the same 
way, become, as it were, but one man, and have but one voice. The uni- 
versal cry is, ' Let us march against Philip ; let us fight for our liberties ; 
let us conquer or die ! ' " 

EEMAEKS. 

a. Double marks should be used before and after a quotation 
inserted in that which has been introduced into an extract; as, 
" Channing, the friend of humanity in every condition and under 
every garb, says, ' When I consider the greater simplicity of their 
lives, and their greater openness to the spirit of Christianity, I am 
not sure but that the " golden age " of manners is to begin among 
those who are now despaired of for their want of refinement.' " 

b. The marks under consideration may with propriety be omitted 
in some instances, where several quotations are so much involved one 

12 



134 



MARKS OF QUOTATION. 






within another, that the insertion of all the inverted commas and the 
apostrophes would tend to obscure the meaning of the entire passage ; 
as, — 

In the New Testament Ave have the following words : " Jesus answered 
the Jews, ' Is it not written in your law, — I said, Ye are gods? ' " 

But, in quoting from such texts of Scripture as contain citations from 
other books of the sacred canon, it is usual to present them as they 
appear in the Common Version, — without any quotation-marks in 
the body of the passage. 



RULE in. 

Extracts composed of Successive Paragraphs. 

When an extract is composed of successive paragraphs, 
each is commenced with inverted commas; but the apostro- 
phes are not used till the quotation finally terminates. 

EXAMPLE. 

To exemplify this rule, a passage, consisting of more than one para- 
graph, may be taken from an essay by Godwin : — 

" No subject is of more importance in the morality of private life, than 
that of domestic or family life. 

" Every man has his ill humors, his fits of peevishness and exacerbation. 
Is it better that he should spend these upon his fellow-beings, or suffer 
them to subside of themselves '? 

" It seems to be one of the most important of the arts of life, that men 
should not come too near each other, or touch in too many points. Exces- 
sive familiarity is the bane of social happiness." 

EEHAEIS, 

a. When phrases, clauses, or sentences, in an extract, consist of 
portions not connected in the discourse or book from which they 
have been taken, each portion should begin and end "with quotation- 
marks, unless several points (....) are inserted to indicate the 
omission ; in which case it will be sufficient to put the marks of quo- 
tation at the beginning and the end of the whole extract, if it is 
contained in one paragraph. 

6. In the leading articles of newspapers, and sometimes in books, 
when particular attention would be drawn to an extract embodied in 
the text, the inverted commas are placed at the beginning of each 
line of the quotation ; but, except in the more transient class of pub- 
lications, this mode of exhibiting extracts is now seldom used. 






QUOTATIONS. 135 



ORAL EXERCISES. 

Shoio how the Rules and the Re?narls (pp. 132-4) apply to the use or omission 
of quotation-marks in the following sentences : — 

The psalmist says again, "lama stranger with thee and a sojourner, 
as all my fathers were." 

When Fenelon's library was on fire, " God be praised," said he, 
" that it is not the dwelling of a poor man ! " 

I repeat what I said on a former occasion, that " no man can be 
happy who is destitute of good feelings and generous principles." 

" There is but one object," says St. Augustine, " greater than the 
soul ; and that one is its Creator." 

Plato, hearing that some asserted he was a very bad man, said, " I 
shall take care so to live that nobody will believe them." 

" Let me make the ballads of a nation," said Fletcher of Saltoun, 
" and I care not who makes its laws." 

A minister of some experience remarks, " I have heard more than 
one sufferer say, ' I am thankful ; God is good to me ; ' and, when I 
heard that, I said, ' It is good to be afflicted.' " 

" Any man," it has been well said, " who has a proneness to see a 
beauty and fitness in all God's works, may find daily food for his mind 
even in an infant." 

The celebrated and ingenious Bishop of Cloyne, in his " Principles 
of Human Knowledge," denies, without any ceremony, the existence of 
every kind of matter whatever. 

After Cicero, the literary history of the Homans is written in one 
line of Tacitus, Gliscente adulatione, magna ingenia deterrebantur ; 
" As adulation increased, great minds were deterred." 

" Stop a moment here," said Corinne to Lord Nelvil, as he stood 
under the portico of the church; "pause before drawing aside the 
curtain which covers the entrance of the temple." 

" To him who lives well," answered the hermit, " every form of life 
is good ; nor can I give any other rule for choice than to remove from 
all apparent evil." 

A being crowned with all the blessings which men covet and 
admire, — with youth, health, beauty, rank, genius, and fame, — writes 
four cantos of melodious verse to prove that he is the most miserable 
of mortals. 

Trench Avell says, " What a lesson the word ' diligence ' contains ! 
How profitable is it for every one of us to be reminded, — as we are 
reminded when we make ourselves aware of its derivation from diligo, 
1 to love,' — that the only secret of true industry in our work is love 
of that work ! " 

To the man who walks among the flowers which he has tended, — 

" Each odoriferous leaf, 
Each opening blossom, freely breathes abroad 
Its gratitude, and thanks him with its sweets." 



136 MARKS OP QUOTATION. 



EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. 



Insert (he marks of quotation agreeably to some of the directions given in pages 

132-5. 

If, says Sir James Mackintosh, you display the delights of liberality 
to a miser, he may always shut your mouth by answering, The spend- 
thrift may prefer such pleasures : I love money more. (Rules I., II.) 

Johnson's Lives of the English Poets may justly be considered as 
the noblest specimen of elegant and solid criticism which any age has 
produced. (Rule I. and Remark d.) 

Terrific examples of license and anarchy in Greece and Rome are 
quoted to prove that man requires to be protected from himself; for- 
getting the profound wisdom wrapped up in the familiar inquiry, Qais 
custodiet ipsos custodes ? Who shall guard the keepers ? (Rule I. 
and Remark c.) 

An eloquent preacher asks, Who would not far prefer our wintry 
storm, and the hoarse sighings of the east wind, as it sweeps around 
us, if they will brace the mind to nobler attainments, and the heart 
to better duties ? [The author of this passage quotes the phrase, " the 
hoarse sighings of the east wind."] (Rules I. and II.) 

I ventured to congratulate him on his coming back to his home. 
Ah, sir ! he answered, but to a home how altered ! — my family broken 
up, my kindred gone, my mother vanished unseen ! — These feelings 
about home are deep, I murmured forth, as he came to an embarrass- 
ing pause. — Very deep, sir, he rejoined, and walked away. (Rule I.) 

What is the soul ? was a question once put to Marivaux. — I know 
nothing of it, he answered, but that it is spiritual and immortal. — 
Well, said his friend, let us ask Fontenelle, and he will tell us what 
it is. — No, cried Marivaux : ask anybody but Fontenelle ; for he has 
too much good sense to know any more about it than we do. (Rule I.) 

D'Alembert congratulated a young man very coldly, who brought 
him the solution of a problem. I have done this to have a seat in 
the Academy, said the young man. — Sir, answered D'Alembert, with 
such motives you will never earn one. Science must be loved for its 
own sake, and not for the advantage to be derived. No other prin- 
ciple will enable a man to make true progress. (Rule I.) 

The following sarcastic rules for behavior are said by Goldsmith to 
have been drawn up by an indigent philosopher : — 

1. If you be a rich man, you may enter the room with three loud 
hems, march deliberately up to the chimney, and turn your back to 
the fire. 

2. If you be a poor man, I would advise you to shrink into the 
room as fast as you can, and place yourself, as usual, upon a corner 
of a chair, in a remote corner. 

3. If you be young, and live with an old man, I would advise you not 
to like gravy. I was disinherited myself for liking gravy. (Rule III.) 






. 



137 



CHAPTER V. 
MISCELLANEOUS MARKS AND CHARACTERS. 



In addition to the sentential points and marks treated of in 
the preceding pages, there are other characters, sometimes oc- 
curring in English composition, which will now be explained. 



I. Beackets, or Crotchets [ ], are employed for the 
same purpose nearly as the marks of parenthesis; but they 
are usually confined to words, phrases, or sentences, inserted 
in or appended to a quotation, and not belonging to it; as, 
" The captain had several men died [who died] in the ship." 

Brackets are chiefly intended to give an explanation, to rectify a 
mistake, or to supply an omission. But they are also sometimes used 
in dictionaries and in poetry to separate such words as are put, for 
the saving of room, into lines to which they do not belong ; and in 
psalms and hymns to include verses that may be omitted by a con- 
gregation. They are used, besides, in a single form, in printed 
dramas, to note the entrance or the departure of certain characters ; 
as, " [Exeunt Portia and Nerissa." 

The grammatical punctuation of the words or sentences enclosed 
by brackets, and of the context, when they require such pointing, 
should be the same as that adopted in respect to the parenthesis, and 
to the clauses between which it is inserted. (See pp. 99, 100.) 



II. A Comma Inverted [ ' ] is sometimes used instead 
of a small c, in many proper names beginning with Mac; as, 
MDonald, the abbreviation of Macdonald. 

This mark seems to be getting out of use ; authors and printers 
now generally preferring the c, either on or above the line, as in 
McKenzie, M c Farlane. 

The same mark is sometimes annexed to the letter in proper 
names ; as, O'JSTeil : but an apostrophe is more frequently used, and 
is more correct ; as, O'Neil. 

12* 



138 MISCELLANEOUS MARKS. 

HI. Two Commas [ „ ] are occasionally employed to 

indicate that something is understood which was expressed in 

the line and word immediately above ; as, — 

John Jones, Esq Plymouth. 

John Smith, Esq „ 

Names of different persons, though spelled in the same way, — as 
the word " John " in the preceding lines, — are commonly repeated. 



IV. The Index, or Hand, points out a passage to which 
special attention is directed ; as, " glf 3 All orders will be 
promptly and carefully attended to." 



V. Three Stars, placed in this form [ * # * ], or N.B., the 
initials of nota bene, " mark well," are sometimes used for 
the same purpose as the index. 



VI. The Caret [ a ] is used, only in manuscript, to show 
where a letter or a word was accidentally omitted, but which 
has afterwards been placed over the line ; as, — 

p are 

Disapointments and trials often blessings in disguise. 



VII. The Brace [ ^y^ ] is used to connect a number of 
words with one common term ; as, — 

3 barleycorns ) (1 inch \ 

12 inches . . . . > are equal to I 1 foot > long measure. 

3 feet ) Uyard) 

The brace was formerly used to bind together a triplet, or three lines 
of poetry having the same rhyme; but this practice is now obsolete. 



VIII. Leaders are dots or periods, used in contents and 
indexes of books, and in similar matter, to lead the eye to the 
end of a line, for the completion of the sense ; as, — 

Page. 

Comma 9 

Semicolon 68 

Colon 79 

Period 86 



MARKS OF ELLIPSIS, ACCENTS, ETC. 139 

IX. Marks of Ellipsis are formed by means of a long 

dash, or of a succession of points or stars [ , , * * * * ], 

of various lengths ; and are used to indicate the omission of 
letters in a word, of words in a sentence, or of sentences in a 
paragraph ; as, — ■ 

1. C s is not uniformly distinguished for dignity, wisdom, patriotism, 

or philanthropy. 

2. If the great have no other glory than that of their ancestors ; if their 
titles are their only virtues, . . . . their birth dishonors them, even in the 
estimation of the world. 

3. Some persons believe that there are no longer any duties to be fulfilled 
beyond the tomb ; and there are but few who know how to be friends to the 
dead. ******* The name of our friends, their glory, their family, 
have still claims on our affection, which it would be guilt not to feel. 

In the first example, " C s " is substituted for Congress ; in the 

second, a single clause is omitted ; and, in the third, several sentences 
are left out by the transcriber. Periods are considered much less 
offensive to the eye than asterisks. 

To avoid repetitions in catalogues, a dash is sometimes used instead 
of the word or words immediately above ; as, — 

Pope's Works, with Notes and Illustrations, 6 vols., calf. 
Eape of the Lock, and other Poems. 



X. Accents. — There are three marks, termed "Accents," 
placed over the vowels ; namely, the Acute [ ' ], as in fancy; 
the Grave [ N ], as in favor ; and the Circumflex [ A ], as in 
fall. The acute accent commonly represents a sharp, the 
grave a depressed, and the circumflex a broad sound. 

The grave accent is sometimes placed in verse over the vowel e, to 
show that it must be fully pronounced; as, cankered, Dirce. 

These characters are also used to denote the inflections of the voice, 
according to the system invented by Walker ; and for various purposes 
in the Latin, French, and other languages. 



XL Marks of Quantity. — There are other three 

marks, indicating the pronunciation, which are sometimes 

classed among the accents; namely, the Long [ " ], as in 

rosy ; the Breve, "or Short [ " ], as in folly ; and the Diasresis 

[ "' ], as in aerial. 

The diaeresis is usually placed over the latter of two vowels, and 
denotes that they are to be pronounced separately. 



140 MISCELLANEOUS MARKS. 

XII. The Cedilla is a mark resembling a comma, placed 
under the letter c, when it has the sound of s before a or o, in 
words taken from the French; as, fagade. 



XIII. The Tilde [ ~ ] is an accentual mark, placed over 
n in Spanish to give that letter a liquid sound ; as, senor, sir. 

If great accuracy is required, all such words should be thus writ- 
ten when occurring in English composition. 



XIV. Marks of Reference. — The Asterisk, or Star 
[ * ], the Obelisk, or Dagger [ f ], the Double Dagger [ J ], 
the Section [ § ], the Parallel Lines [ |j ], and the Paragraph 
[ % ], are used, in the order here presented, when references 
are made to observations or notes in the margin of a page. 

When references are numerous, the above marks, when they have 
been all used in one and the same page, and others are required, 
should be doubled or trebled ; as, **, ttt« 

But, for purposes of reference, many authors prefer lowercase Italic 
letters or Arabic figures, enclosed by marks of parenthesis (<?) or (1) : 
some using the letters throughout the alphabet, or the figures as far 
as 10 or 100 inclusive, then beginning again with (a) or (1) ; and 
others commencing each page with the first letter or figure. 

As, however, all the above marks have a rather clumsy appearance, 
particularly when they often occur in the same page, it has, in more 
recent times, been regarded as an improvement to use, in then* order, 
letters or figures of a smaller size, technically called, from their stand- 
ing above the line, Superiors ; as, a or l . 

The Asterisk is used in some dictionaries to note, either that a 
word is of Greek origin, or is distinguished by some other peculiarity ; 
and the Obelisk, that a word or phrase is barbarous or obsolete. In 
Roman-Catholic church-books, the asterisk is used to divide each verse 
of a psalm into two parts, showing where the responses begin. The 
obelisk is inserted, instead of the proper square cross, in those places 
of the printed prayers and benedictions where the priest is to make 
the sign of the cross. It is also used in the briefs of the pope, and 
in the mandates of archbishops and bishops, who put this symbol 
immediately before the signature of then* names. 

The mark termed the Section [ § ] is sometimes employed to 
divide books or chapters into smaller portions; and that called the 
Paragraph [ 51 J occurs frequently in the authorized version of 
the Bible. 



141 



EULES ON THE USE OF CAPITALS. 



RULE I. 

The First Word of a Booh, Tract, fyc. 

The first word of every book, tract, essay, &c, and of their great 
divisions, — chapters, sections, paragraphs, and notes, — must com- 
mence with a capital letter. 

REMARKS. 

a. Numerous exemplifications of the rule will be found in the present or 
any other work. 

b. Phrases or clauses, when separately numbered, commonly begin each 
with a capital letter; as, "The reproach of barbarism may be incurred in 
three different ways: 1. By the use of words entirely obsolete; 2. By the 
use of words entirely new ; or, 3. By new formations and compositions from 
simple and primitive words in present use." * 



RULE II. 

The First Word after a Full Point. 

The first word after a period, and after a note of interrogation or 
exclamation when grammatically equivalent- to a period, should begin 
with a capital ; as, — 

1. Let the tone of your conversation be invariably benevolent. Differ without 
asperity; agree without dogmatism. Kind words cost no more than unkind ones. 

2. What is it that keeps men in continual discontent and agitation ? It is, that 
they cannot make realities correspond with their conceptions. 

3. Fair, fair, shall be the flowers that spring over thy tomb, dear, gentle Elia! 
Sweet shall be the song — sweet as thine own — that shall lure the wanderer to the 
spot where thy urn receives the tears of the stranger. 

* To the Teacher. — With the rules for regulating the uses of capital letters, it 
is not deemed requisite to present any exercises. The teacher may, however, require 
the pupil, while studying these lessons, to copy the examples contained under the 
rules and in the remarks ; and he may put to him such questions as will naturally 
rise out of a consideration of the directions given. The presentation of exercises 
containing false modes of writing initial letters, for the purpose of having them rec- 
tified, would produce a result the very opposite of what is intended. 



142 CAPITAL LETTERS. 

REMARKS. 

a. When the period is a mark for an abbreviated word or phrase which 
does not end a sentence, the following word is commenced, not with a 
capital, but with a small letter; as, "Franklin had the degree of LL.D. 
conferred on him by the University of St. Andrew's, Scotland." 

b. When two or more sentences, of an exclamatory or interrogative kind, 
are closely connected in sense and construction, all of them, except the first, 
begin with a small letter; as, "How ugly a person appears, upon whose 
reputation some awkward aspersion hangs ! and how suddenly his counte- 
nance clears up with his character ! " 



RULE in. 

Appellations of God and Christ. 

Names of the Deity and of Jesus Christ must commence with a 
capital letter ; as, — 

1. Jehovah, Lord, God; Creator, Father, Preserver, Governor; the Eternal, the 
Almighty, the All-wise ; the Supreme Being ; the Holy Spirit. 

2. The Messiah, the Anointed; the Son, the Saviour, the Redeemer; the Holy 
One; Prophet, Teacher, Master; Judge of the -world. 

REMARKS. 

a. The adjectives divine, heavenly, eternal, universal, providential, and 
others of a similar kind, when applied to God, his attributes, or his agency, 
are sometimes written initially with capitals ; but, unless when particularly 
emphatic, small letters are preferable, because the names of the Deity 
occurring in the connection sufficiently indicate the Being referred to. 

b. As exceptions to this remark, the epithets occurring in First Cause, 
Divine or Supreme Being, Almighty God, Infinite One, should begin with large 
letters, because universal custom favors this mode of writing. The adjective 
Most Sigh, or Highest, should also appear with an initial capital, when the 
noun which it qualifies is not used. 

c. The word Spirit, and. the phrases Holy or Divine Spirit, Holy Ghost, 
Spirit of God, are usually capitalized, whether said of the Deity or of his 
gifts and influences. Some writers, however, restrict the capitals to these 
terms when they have a personal import, but use small letters when they 
signify merely divine inspiration or heavenly aid. 

d. Pronouns referring to God and Christ should not begin with capitals, 
unless they are used emphatically without a noun. 



RULE IV. 

Titles of Honor and Respect. 

Titles of honor and respect, either descriptive of persons in exalted 
stations or addressed to them, usually begin with capital letters ; as, — 

1. Her Majesty, His Honor; Your Royal Highness, Tour Grace. 

2. My Lord, my Lady ; dear Sir, respected Madam or Friend. 

3. The President of the United States. 

4. His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts. 



CAPITAL LETTERS. 143 

REMARKS. 

a. In the rules and reports of societies, institutions, &c, names indicating 
office should begin with capitals ; as, Chairman, President, Vice-President, 
Treasurer, Secretary, Committee, Directors, Board of Managers. So, also, 
when used in a specific sense, the words Report, Society, Institution, Corpora- 
tion, Constitution, Commonwealth, State, University, College, Academy, School, 
Congress, Parliament, Legislature, &c. In the plural number, or when used 
in a general sense, such words are properly put in small characters. 

b. The pope ; his or her majesty ; Icing, queen ; duke, duchess ; lord, lady ; 
sir, madam ; president, governor, and words of a similar kind, should be 
written with, small initials, when they occur very frequently, or without 
any particular expression of honor. When prefixed to proper names, how- 
ever, they are always begun with capitals ; as, President Jefferson, Governor 
Winthrop, Professor Longfellow, Lord Brougham, Countess of Blessington, 
Queen Victoria, the Emperor Napoleon, Pope Pius IX. 



RULE V. 
Names of Persons, Places, fyc. 
All proper names, whether of animate or inanimate existences, 
begin with capitals ; as, — 

1. Jupiter, Juno; Pompey, Penelope; William, Sarah. 

2. America, Europe ; France, Spain, Great Britain. 

3. New York, Philadelphia; London, Edinburgh, Broadway. 

4. The Atlantic, the Bed Sea, Lake Erie, the Alps. 

5. January, Monday, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter. 

REMARK S. 

a. The words heaven, hell, paradise, the celestial and the infernal regions, 
representing either states of mind or places of reward and punishment, 
usually begin with small letters ; but Elysium, Tartarus, and Pandemonium, 
with capitals. 

b. Sunday, as one of the days of the week, has always an initial capital ; 
while, on the contrary, sabbath, or sabbath-day, is perhaps more frequently 
written with a small s than with a large one. The initials in Lord's Bay, 
New Year's Day, &c, are usually capitalized. 



RULE VI. 

Nouns and Adjectives derived from Proper Names. 

Gentile nouns, adjectives derived from gentile nouns, and nouns 
or adjectives formed from proper names, begin with capitals ; as, — 

1. A Hebrew, a Greek, a Boman, a German, a Spaniard, a Frenchman. 

2. Hebrew, Grecian, Boman, Italian, French, Spanish, American. 

3. A Christian, a Brahmin, a Mahometan; Augustan, Elizabethan. 

R E M A E K S. 

a. Names of sectaries, whether formed from proper nouns or otherwise, 
should begin with capitals; as, "Good men are found among Christian 
denominations of the most opposite doctrines, — among Roman Catholics 



144 CAPITAL LETTERS. 

and Protestants, Athanasians and Arians, Trinitarians and Unitarians, 
Lutherans, Calvinists, Arminians, and Universalists." So, also, when used 
adjectively ; as, the Wesleyan doctrines ; Papal, Protestant, and Episcopal 
ceremonies. 

b. A few adjectives and common nouns, derived from proper names, 
are usually printed with small initials; as, godlike, stentorian, hermetical, 
hymeneal, prussic ; epicure, epicurism ; philippic, simony, jalap, damask, cash- 
mere (shawl), china (ware), guinea (a coin), turkey (a fowl), champagne 
(wine). These and similar words are so written, because usually little or 
no reference is made to the proper names from which they were derived. 

c. For the same reason, the verbs to hector, to philippize, to romance, to 
galvanize, to japan, should be written with small letters. But, on account 
of their more obvious allusion to the proper names whence they have been 
taken, Judaize and Christianize are better written with initial capitals. The 
compounds unchristian, antichristian, &c, are, however, put in small cha- 
racters. 

RULE VLT. 

Words of Primary Importance. 
Words of primary importance, especially if they indicate some 
great event, or remarkable change in religion or government, are 
commenced with capital letters ; as, — 

1. The Reformation, effected mainly by Luther, is one of the most wonderful 
events in modern times. 

2. Glorious New England! around thy hills and mountains cling, like gathering 
mists, the mighty memories of the Revolution. 

K EMAK K S. 

a. Every noun or leading word in the titles of books and other publica- 
tions must begin, wherever it occurs, with a capital letter; as, " Gray's 
' Elegy in a Country Churchyard ' is perhaps the finest poem of the kind 
in the English or any other language." 

b. Terms denoting the records of the Jewish and Christian revelations 
are distinguished by initial capitals; as, the Scriptures, the Holy Bible, the 
Sacred Writings, the Old and the New Testament. But the phrase word of 
God, when employed in this sense, is begun with a small letter; while the 
term Word, or "Logos," as used by St. John in the introduction to his 
Gospel, and so much discussed by divines, is generally written and printed 
with a capital. 

c. The word gospel has a small letter for its initial when it means the 
religion of Jesus, but a capital when it denotes one of the four Gospels ; as, 
the Gospel of Matthew. So, also, the term revelation, vdien denoting the 
divine instructions contained in the Bible, begins with a small letter; but, 
used of the Apocalypse, or Revelation of St. John, it must be distinguished 
by a capital. 

d. Designations of political parties should commence each with a capital 
letter ; as, Whig, Tory, Federalist, Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Radi- 
cal, Free Soiler. 

e. In advertisements, handbills, and cards, the principal words — such as 
the names of the arts and sciences, and nouns occurring in a list of articles 
— are properly begun with capitals. 



CAPITAL LETTERS. 145 

RULE VILL 

The Pronoun I, and the Interjection 0. 
The pronoun I, and the interjection 0, should invariably be written 
or printed in capitals ; as, — 

With three steps I compass thy grave, thou who wast so great before! 

REMARKS. 

a. The interjection oh should never, as is sometimes done, be put with 
an initial capital, except at the beginning of a sentence, or of a line in verse. 

b. For the modes of using the two words and oh, see p. 96, Remark b. 



RULE IX. 

Commencement of Lines in Verse. 
The first word of every line in poetry is begun with a capital letter; 
as, — 

No eye beheld when William plunged 
Young Edmund in the stream ; 
• No human ear, but William's, heard 

Young Edmund's drowning scream. 

REMARK. 

The initial letter in the first word of a poetical quotation, though not 
beginning a line, should be capitalized ; as, " One of the most illustrious 
names in the literary annals of Europe is that of Spenser, — 

' That gentle bard, 
Chosen by the Muses for their page of state.' " 



RULE X. 

Prosopopoeia, or Personification. „ • 

Nouns that represent inanimate beings as persons should begin 

with capitals ; as, — 

Better to sit in Freedom's hall, 
With a cold, damp floor, and a mouldering wall, 
Than to bend the neck or to bow the knee 
In the proudest palace of Slavery. 

REMARKS. 

a. According to this rule, all such words as the Muses, the Graces, the 
Furies, the Fates, should be distinguished by capitals. When " the graces " 
is used of certain moral affections, a common g is properly used. 

b. The rule should be applied with some discrimination. It is only when 
the figure prosopopoeia is uncommonly vivid that the noun should have its 
initial with a capital letter; there being a tendency, even in the most inani- 
mate compositions, to impart a certain degree of life and energy to the 
representatives of our thoughts. But, though in numberless instances it 
would be improper to capitalize such words, the more glowing personifica- 
tions of the poet and the orator ought unquestionably to be so distinguished. 

13 



146 CAPITAL LETTERS. 

RULE XL 

Quotations, Examples, &fc. 

The first word of every quotation, example, precept, or question, 
introduced in a direct form, must begin with a capital letter ; as, — 

1. Bushnell well remarks, " Hitherto, the love of passion has been the central 
fire of the world's literature." 

2. These two questions, "What are we?" and "Whither do we tend?" will at 
times press painfully upon thoughtful minds. 

REMARKS. 

a. When a quotation is introduced by the conjunction that, or is brought 
in obliquely or indirectly, a small letter is preferable ; as, " It is well said 
by a celebrated writer, that, ' precious as thought is, the love of truth is still 
more precious.' " — " Happy those who, ' dying, leave no line they wish to 
blot'!" 

b. Examples, consisting of mere words or phrases, may have small letters 
for their initials, when they do not commence new lines, or are not formally 
introduced with the words " as follows," or with a similar expression. 



RULE XLT. 

Capitals used instead of Figures, 
Numbers are sometimes written or printed wholly in capitals, as 
representative characters. Thus, — 

I. is used instead of one, or first; TV. for four, or fourth; XI. for eleven, or 
eleventh; XX. for twenty, or twentieth; XL. for forty, or fortieth; &c. 



rule xm. 

Titlepages, Inscriptions, fyc. 
Titlepages of books, and heads of chapters, sections, articles, &c, 
are, with some few exceptions, put entirely in capitals. Unless very 
long, dedications of printed works, and inscriptions on monuments, 
are commonly distinguished in the same manner. 

REMARKS. 

a. The first word in a book or chapter is usually put in small capitals, 
with the exception of the initial letter, which should have a common-size 
capital. 

b. Capitals or small capitals are also used, either singly or otherwise, as 
abbreviations of titles and other words, and as representative signs, parti- 
culai-ly in works of art and science, such as chemistry, mechanics, arith- 
metic,' grammar, music, &c. 

c. In manuscript, words or sentences meant to be printed in CAPITALS 
are distinguished by having three lines drawn under them ; in small capi- 
tals, by two lines ; and in Italics, by one. 



147 



GENERAL EXERCISES, 

PUNCTUATED ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLES LAID DOWN IN THE 
PRESENT WORK. 



Lei the pupil assign reasons for (he insertion or omission of points in (he follow- 
ing piece : — 

I. — THE TWO ROADS. 

*1. It was New Year's Night. An aged man was standing at a 

2. window. He mournfully raised his eyes towards the deep-blue 

3. sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface 

4. of a clear, calm lake ; then he cast them on the earth, where few 

5. more helpless beings than himself were moving towards their 

6. inevitable goal, — the tomb. Already he had passed sixty of 

7. the stages which lead to it ; and he had brought from his journey 

8. nothing but errors and remorse. His health was destroyed, his 

9. mind was unfurnished, his heart sorrowful, and his old age devoid 

10. of comfort. 

1 1. The days of his youth rose up in a vision before him ; and he 

12. recalled the solemn moment when his father had placed him at 

13. the entrance of two roads, — one leading into a peaceful, sunny 

14. land, covered with a fertile harvest, and resounding with soft, 

15. sweet songs; while the other conducted the wanderer into a 

16. deep, dark cave, whence there was no issue, where poison flowed. 

17. instead of water, and where serpents hissed and crawled. 

* In what follows, the superior or small figures refer to the lines as num- 
bered in this exercise ; the other figures and the Italic letters, to the pages 
or places in which the principles of punctuation, here adopted, are to be 
found : — 

I 86; 25. 2 86; 44, § I.; 13, c. 3 30, h; 34, c; 4. * 13; 71; 44, § I.; 
30, h. 5 25. 6 103, a, or 114, b ; 86; 40, c. 7 29, § n.; 68; 25. 8 45^; 
86; 25; 57, b. 9 57, 5, or 76, b; 61, c. 1° 86. 

II 25 ; 44, § 1. ; 68. 12 30, h, or 44, § 1. 13 114; 13. 1* 30, i; 57; 13; 
15 71; 25; 44, § 1. 16 13; 30, h; 57. " 57; 86. 



148 GENERAL EXERCISES. 

18. He looked towards the sky, and cried out in his anguish, " O 

19. youth ! return. O my father ! place me once more at the cross- 

20. way of life, that I may choose the better road." But the days 

21. of his youth had passed away, and his parents were with the 

22. departed. He saw wandering lights float over dark marshes, and 

23. then disappear. " Such," said he, " were the days of my wasted 

24. life." He saw a star shoot from heaven, and vanish in darkness 

25. athwart the churchyard. " Behold an emblem of myself ! " he 

26. exclaimed ; and the sharp arrows of unavailing remorse struck 

27. him to the heart. 

28. Then he remembered his early companions, who had entered 

29. life with him, but who, having trod the paths of virtue and indus- 

30. try, were now happy and honored on this New Year's Night. 

31. The clock in the high church-tower struck ; and the sound, falling 

32. on his ear, recalled the many tokens of the love of his parents 

33. for him, then' erring son, the lessons they had taught him, the 

34. prayers they had offered up on his behalf. Overwhelmed with 

35. shame and grief, he dared no longer look towards that heaven 

36. where they dwelt. His darkened eyes dropped tears ; and, with 

37. one despairing effort, he cried aloud, " Come back, my early 

38. days, — come back ! " 

39. And his youth did return ; for all this had been but a dream, 

40. visiting his slumbers on New Year's Night. He was still young : 

41. his errors only were no dream. He thanked God fervently, that 

42. time was still his own ; that he had not yet entered the deep, 

43. dark cavern, but that he was free to tread the road leading to 

44. the peaceful land where sunny harvests wave. 

45. Ye who still linger on the threshold of life, doubting which 

46. path to choose, remember, that, when years shall be passed, and 

47. your feet shall stumble on the dark mountain, you will cry bit- 

48. terly, but cry in vain, " O youth ! return. Oh, give me back my 

49. early days ! " 

50. J. P. Eichter. 



18 57 ; 44, § I. ; 64. 19 96 ; 86 ; 96 ; 34, c, or 40, c. 20 52, /; 86. 21 25 ; 
57, b. 22 86; 57. 23 132 ; 34, a, or 101, g. 24 86; 132; 57; 44, § I. 25 86; 
132; 96. 26 68; 25. 27 44, § It ; 86. 

28 41, g 3; 25; 29, § 1. 29 71, j ; 25, c. 30 34; 44, § j., 86. 31 34, C; 
25; 71; 25, c. 32 34. 33 19, a; 57. 34 13, y; r 44, § 1.5 86. 35 38 ; 
44, § 1.; 30, h. 36 86; 25; 68 or 71; 34. 37 34; 64; 132; 37. 38 108; 
96; 132. 

39 68; 25; 31, j, 40 44, § I# . 86; 79. 41 86; 64. 42 73; 13. 43 57,5,. 
31, j. 44 30, h; 86. 

45-29, § 11.; 44, § 1.; 31, j. 46 37; 64, c; 57. 47 34. 48 64; 34; 132; 
96, b; 86; 96, b. 49 96, £• 132. 50 89; 86. 



GENERAL EXERCISES. 149 



II. — A TASTE FOR READING.* 

We cannot linger in the beautiful creations of inventive genius, or 
pursue the splendid discoveries of modern science, without a new 
sense of the capacities and dignity of human nature, which naturally 
leads to a sterner self-respect, to manlier resolves and higher aspira- 
tions. We cannot read the ways of God to man as revealed in the 
history of nations, of sublime virtues as exemplified in the lives of 
great and good men, without falling into that mood of thoughtful 
admiration, which, though it be but a transient glow, is a purifying 
and elevating influence while it lasts. The study of history is espe- 
cially valuable as an antidote to self-exaggeration. It teaches lessons 
of humility, patience, and submission. When we read of realms 
smitten with the scourge of famine or pestilence, or strewn with the 
bloody ashes of war ; of grass growing in the streets of great cities ; 
of ships rotting at the wharves ; of fathers burying their sons ; of 
strong men begging their bread ; of fields untilled, and silent work, 
shops, and despairing countenances, — we hear a voice of rebuke to 
our own clamorous sorrows and peevish complaints. We learn that 
pain and suffering and disappointment are a part of God's providence, 
and that no contract was ever yet made with man by which virtue 
should secure to him temporal happiness. 

In books, be it remembered, we have the best products of the 
best minds. We should any of us esteem it a great privilege to pass 
an evening with Shakspeare or Bacon, were such a thing possible. 
But, were we admitted to the presence of one of these illustrious 
men, we might find him touched with infirmity, or oppressed with 
weariness, or darkened with the shadow of a recent trouble, or 
absorbed by intrusive and tyrannous thoughts. To us the oracle 
might be dumb, and the light eclipsed. But, when we take down 
one of their volumes, we run no such risk. Here we have their best 

* To the Teacher. — The teacher may require the pupil either to read aloud this 
and the following pieces of composition, and, after each sentence, to assign the 
reasons for the punctuation adopted, by referring to the rules and remarks -which 
are laid down in the preceding pages as applicable to each particular case ; or to write 
out the exercises, one at a time, without any points whatever, and, on the following 
day, to take his transcribed copy, and, without aid from the book, insert such marks 
as he thinks will best exhibit the grammatical structure of the composition, the con- 
nections or relations subsisting between the various parts of its sentences, and the 
meanings which the author intended to express. On being furnished with the pointed 
manuscript, and having compared it with the models here exhibited, the teacher will, 
by asking a few questions, ascertain very easily whether the pupil has merely copied 
the punctuation of the printed exercises, or whether he has applied his judgment as 
guided by previous study. 

The Contents at the beginning of this work will aid in the discovery of any parti- 
cular rule or remark to which there may be occasion to refer. 

13* 



150 GENERAL EXERCISES. 

thoughts, embalmed in their best words ; immortal flowers of poetry, 
wet with Castalian dews, and the golden fruit of wisdom that had 
long ripened on the bough before it was gathered. Here we find 
the growth of the choicest seasons of the mind, when mortal cares 
were forgotten, and mortal weaknesses were subdued ; and the soul, 
stripped of its vanities and its passions, lay bare to the finest efflu- 
ences of truth and beauty. We may be sure that Shakspeare never 
out-talked his Hamlet, nor Bacon his Essays. Great writers are 

indeed best known through their books 

For the knowledge that comes from books, I would claim no more 
than it is fairly entitled to. I am well aware that there is no inevi- 
table connection between intellectual cultivation, on the one hand, 
and individual virtue or social well-being, on the other. " The tree 
of knowledge is not the tree of life." I admit that genius and learn- 
ing are sometimes found in combination with gross vices, and not 
unfrequently with contemptible weaknesses ; and that a community 
at once cultivated and corrupt is no impossible monster. But it is 
no overstatement to say, that, other things being equal, the man 
who has the greatest amount of intellectual resources is in the least 
danger from inferior temptations, — if for no other reason, because 
he has fewer idle moments. The ruin of most men dates from some 
vacant hour. Occupation is the armor of the soul ; and the train 
of Idleness is borne up by all the vices. I remember a satirical 
poem, in which the Devil is represented as fishing for men, and 
adapting his baits to the taste and temperament of his prey ; but the 
idler, he said, pleased him most, because he bit the naked hook. To 
a young man away from home, friendless and forlorn in a great city, 
the hours of peril are those between sunset and bedtime ; for the 
moon and stars see more of evil in a single hour than the sun in his 
whole day's circuit. The poet's visions of evening are all compact 
of tender and soothing images. It brings the wanderer to his home, 
the child to his mother's arms, the ox to his stall, and the weary 
laborer to his rest. But to the gentle-hearted youth who is thrown 
upon the rocks of a pitiless city, and stands " homeless amid a thou- 
sand homes," the approach of evening brings with it an aching sense 
of loneliness and desolation, which comes down upon the spirit like 
darkness upon the earth. Li this mood, his best impulses become a 
snare to him ; and he is led astray because he is social, affectionate, 
sympathetic, and warm-hearted. If there be a young man, thus 
circumstanced, within the sound of my voice, let me say to him, that 
books are the friends of the friendless, and that a library is the home 
of the homeless. A taste for reading will always carry you into the 
best possible company, and enable you to converse with men who 
will instruct you by their wisdom, and charm you by their wit ; 
who will soothe you when fretted, refresh you when weary, counsel 
you when perplexed, and sympathize with you at all times. 

George S. Hellaed. 



GENERAL EXERCISES. 151 



m. — ANCIENT AND MODERN WRITERS. 

The classics possess a peculiar charm, from the circumstance that 
they have been the models, I might almost say the masters, of com- 
position and thought in all ages. In the contemplation of these 
august teachers of mankind, we are filled with conflicting emotions. 
They are the early voice of the world, better remembered and more 
cherished still than all the intermediate words that have been uttered ; 
as the lessons of childhood still haunt us when the impressions of 
later years have been effaced from the mind. But they show with 
most unwelcome frequency the tokens of the world's childhood, before 
passion had yielded to the sway of reason and the affections. They 
want the highest charm of purity, of righteousness, of elevated 
sentiments, of love to God and man. It is not in the frigid philo- 
sophy of the Porch and the Academy that we are to seek these ; not 
in the marvellous teachings of Socrates, as they come mended by the 
mellifluous words of Plato ; not in the resounding line of Homer, on 
whose inspiring tale of blood Alexander pillowed his head ; not in 
the animated strain of Pindar, where virtue is pictured in the suc- 
cessful strife of an athlete at the Isthmian games ; not in the torrent 
of Demosthenes, dark with self-love and the spirit of vengeance ; not 
in the fitful philosophy and intemperate eloquence of Tully; not in 
the genial libertinism of Horace, or the stately atheism of Lucretius. 
No : these must not be our masters : in none of these are we to 
seek the way of life. For eighteen hundred years, the spirit of these 
writers has been engaged in weaponless contest with the Sermon on 
the Mount, and those two sublime commandments on which hang 
all the law and the prophets. The strife is still pending. Heathen- 
ism, which has possessed itself of such siren forms, is not yet exorcised. 
It still tempts the young, controls the affairs of active life, and haunts 
the meditations of age. 

Our own productions, though they may yield to those of the 
ancients in the arrangement of ideas, in method, in beauty of form, 
and in freshness of illustration, are immeasurably superior in the 
truth, delicacy, and elevation of their sentiments ; above all, in 
the benign recognition of that great Christian revelation, the brother- 
hood of man. How vain are eloquence and poetry, compared with 
this heaven-descended truth! Put in one scale that simple utter- 
ance, and in the other the lore of antiquity, with its accumulating 
glosses and commentaries, and the last will be light and trivial in 
the balance. Greek poetry has been likened to the song of the night- 
ingale, as she sits in the rich, symmetrical crown of the palm-tree, 
trilling her thick-warbled notes ; but even this is less sweet and 
tender than the music of the human heart. 

Charles Sumner. 



152 GENERAL EXERCISES. 



IV. — THE PEN AND THE PEESS. 

Young Genius walked out by the mountains and streams, 
Entranced by the power of his own pleasant dreams, 
Till the silent, the wayward, the wandering thing 
Found a plume that had fallen from a passing bird's wing: 
Exulting and proud, like a boy at his plaj-, 
He bore the new prize to his dwelling away ; 
He gazed for a while on its beauties, and then 
He cut it, and shaped it, and called it a Pen. 

But its magical use he discovered not yet, 

Till he dipped its bright lips in a fountain of jet; 

And, oh ! what a glorious thing it became ! 

For it spoke to the world in a language of flame ; 

While its master wrote on, like a being inspired, 

Till the hearts of the millions were melted or fired : 

It came as a boon and a blessing to men, — 

The peaceful, the pure, the victorious Pen. 

Young Genius went forth on his rambles once more, 

The vast, sunless caverns of earth to explore ; 

He searched the rude rock, and with rapture he found 

A substance unknown, which he brought from the ground ; 

He fused it with fire, and rejoiced at the change, 

As he moulded the ore into characters strange, 

Till his thoughts and his efforts were crowned with success ; 

For an engine uprose, and he called it the Press. 

The Pen and the Press, blest alliance ! combined 
To soften the heart, and enlighten the mind ; 
For that to the treasures of knowledge gave birth, 
And this sent them forth to the ends of the earth : 
Their battles for truth were triumphant indeed, 
And the rod of the tyrftnt was snapped like a reed ; 
They were made to exalt us, to teach us, to bless, 
Those invincible brothers, — the Pen and the Press. 

John Critchley Prince. 



THE END. 












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